that clause...

Question

"She thought that there was a chance in a million that she might be right."

What's the second 'that' represents?

I think the bare bone of the sentence is "She thought that she might be right."
But how to interpret function of "there was a chance in a million"?

I got a little confused.

Thanks in advance!

Marius Hancu · Accepted Answer

>But how to interpret THE function of ...

Both are normally used, even though some could consider the 2nd one optional.

Think about:

She thought that there was a chance in a million ...
She thought that she might be right ...

CalifJim · Answer

that she might be right is a clause in apposition with chance: a chance that she might be right. It's similar to the thought that he might miss the train or the fact that she was born in June.

a chance in a million means a very low probability. Suppose you write a number from 1 to 1,000,000 without showing me the number. Then I try to guess the number you chose. I can choose a million different numbers, but only one choice is correct. There's a chance in a million that I will guess the number you wrote.

The structure is not exactly as you think.

It's more like this: She thought that there was a [= one] chance | that she might be right | -- in a million (chances | that she might be right | ).

CJ

that clause...

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