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Wrandom Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Who or that

Hi teachers,

In the following sentence, if I wanted to keep the clause in brackets, which relative pronoun should I use?

It was his mother (and the way she acted) who/that caused him to run away.

What if it was:

It was his mother, and the way she acted, who/that caused him to run away.

Thanks muchly!

Wil
  

Top answer

Only that will work in either sentence as who can't refer to "the way she acted". CB

— Cool Breeze

  • Only that will work in either sentence as who can't refer to "the way she acted".
  • CB
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5 Answers
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Only that will work in either sentence as who can't refer to "the way she acted".

CB
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True true. But does that also hold when the subclause is in brackets only?

Wil
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wrandom But does that also hold when the subclause is in brackets only?
It does if the way she acted is referred to. If it isn't referred to, there's no need to use that.

CB
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Hi Cool Breeze,

Can't "that" be substituted for who?

Regards,

Iman
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