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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
That which
Hi.
"Mr Karzai said the war should have been conducted "in the sanctuaries, in the training grounds beyond Afghanistan, rather than that which the US and Nato forces were conducting operations in Afghan villages, causing harm to Afghan people."" [From the BBC.]
Do the pronouns "that" and "which" (in the phrase "that which") refer to "the war"? Is "that" a demonstrative pronoun and "which" a relative one in the sentence?
Thank you.
"Mr Karzai said the war should have been conducted "in the sanctuaries, in the training grounds beyond Afghanistan, rather than that which the US and Nato forces were conducting operations in Afghan villages, causing harm to Afghan people."" [From the BBC.]
Do the pronouns "that" and "which" (in the phrase "that which") refer to "the war"? Is "that" a demonstrative pronoun and "which" a relative one in the sentence?
Thank you.
Top answer
If your quote is accurate, the presenter misspoke, or Karzai did. The grammar is so disjointed I don't know how to fix it. "That which" does not work.
- If your quote is accurate, the presenter misspoke, or Karzai did.
- The grammar is so disjointed I don't know how to fix it.
- "That which" does not work.
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3 Answers
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If your quote is accurate, the presenter misspoke, or Karzai did. The grammar is so disjointed I don't know how to fix it. "That which" does not work.
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Thank you, Enoon, for your useful reply. My understanding is that the demonstrative pronoun "that" substitutes "the war" and the relative pronoun "which" refers back to to the pronoun "that" [the war]. The collocation of "that which" is not so unusual, though. That one is from The Guardian: We wonder, even, if he will ultimately become that which he so intensely loathes.
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"That which" is very often seen, but the grammar of your original sentence is so faulty I don't know where to begin. Your analysis does not make sense. The Guardian quote is good English.
The Christian Science Monitor reports a different sentence: "The worsening of relations began actually in 2005 where we saw the first incidents of civilian casualties where we saw that the
The Christian Science Monitor reports a different sentence: "The worsening of relations began actually in 2005 where we saw the first incidents of civilian casualties where we saw that the
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