That clearly

Question

The topic sentence is a crucial part of writing letters, emails, and papers that clearly and concisely tell the reader what you are trying to say.

https://blog.udemy.com/examples-of-topic-sentences/

What is the grammatical form and function of "that" and what does it refers to or modify here?

thanks

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

JigneshbharatiWhat is the grammatical form and function of "that"

It is a relative pronoun. It heads the relative clause.

Jigneshbharatiwhat does it refers to or modify here?

crucial part

BillJ · Answer

The topic sentence is a crucial part of writing letters, emails, and papers_i [that _____i clearly and concisely tell the reader what you are trying to say].

Traditional grammar analyses the that which is found in relative clauses as a relative pronoun. But modern grammar takes it as a clause subordinator which simply introduces relative clauses and is not anaphoric to some antecedent. Its function is thus 'marker'

In the latter analysis, the relativised item is therefore missing and is represented by the "____" notation called 'gap', which in your example functions as subject of the relative clause, as I've shown.

Since the verb tell in the relative clause is plural, the antecedent of 'gap' can only be the plural nominal letters, emails, and papers. If the verb was the singular "tells", the antecedent would be the singular crucial part of writing letters, emails, and papers.

That clearly

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