That
Hello everyone,
Is the word "that" optional in the following sentence?
Because he only thought about the pie and he was afraid of (that) his sister might know the pie had gone.
Regards,
JA
Top answer
Because he only thought about the pie and he was afraid of (that) his sister might know the pie had gone . The subordinator "that" is optional, but drop "of". The underlined content clause is complement of the adjective "afraid", not the preposition "of".
- Because he only thought about the pie and he was afraid of (that) his sister might know the pie had gone .
- The subordinator "that" is optional, but drop "of".
- The underlined content clause is complement of the adjective "afraid", not the preposition "of".
- Note that your sentence consists of just a phrase containing radical ellipsis, not a main clause.
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Because he only thought about the pie and he was afraid of (that) his sister might know the pie had gone.
The subordinator "that" is optional, but drop "of". The underlined content clause is complement of the adjective "afraid", not the preposition "of".
Note that your sentence consists of just a phrase containing radical ellipsis, not a main clause.
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