Two weeks ago, Forum member Justine A. asked two very interesting English grammar questions but it was only last Monday that I found time to thoroughly analyze them and write this column. The first question is definitely much more demanding so I’ll start right off with it and take up the second question afterwards.
The first question: “Can
‘that’ both act as relative pronoun and subordinating conjunction in this sentence: “The negotiators ultimately worked out a peace treaty
that was accepted by the warring countries”?
It’s tempting to say that the word “that” is acting simultaneously as a relative pronoun and subordinating conjunction in that sentence, but to do so without first finding out precisely how the two differ would only heighten uncertainty rather than bring us to a conclusive answer.
Let’s begin with what a
relative pronoun is. It’s a function word that introduces a dependent or relative clause and connects it to an independent or main clause. There are 10 relative pronouns—“who,” “whoever,” ‘whom,” “whomever,” “that,” “what”, “which,” “when,” “where,” and “whose.” Take note in particular that one of them is “that.”
A relative clause actually works as an adjective, providing more details about the antecedent noun that it modifies. See how relative pronouns work: “The young women
who passed the bar exams are having a party.” (“who” is the subject of “who passed the bar exams”). “The movie
that we watched was terrifying.” (“that” is the object of “that we watched”).
On the other hand, a
subordinating conjunction is a function word or phrase that links a dependent clause to an independent clause, It indicates that the clause to be attached will provide additional information to the main clause or signal some cause-and-effect outcome or temporal or location shift between the two clauses.
There about 50 subordinating conjunctions in English. To show their diversity, I’m enumerating most of them here: “after,” “although,” “as,” “as if,” “as long as.” “as much as,” “as soon as,” “as though,” “because,” “before,” “by the time,” “even if,” “even though,” “if,” “in order that,” in case,” “in the event that,” “lest,” “now that,” “once,” “only,” “only if,” “provided that,” “since,” “since,” “so,” “supposing,” “that,” “than,” “though,” “till,” “unless,” “until,” “when,” “whenever,” “where,” “whereas,” “wherever,” “whether or not,” and “while.”
(If you haven’t memorized them yet, do so now.) Among them, of course, is the multifaceted function word “that,” which typically introduces (a) subordinate clause expressing purpose or desired result (“The family sold their second car so
that their eldest son can pay for his last year in law school.”); (b) a subordinate clause expressing a reason or cause (“We were overjoyed
that our youngest daughter is now a medical doctor.”); and (c) a subordinate clause expressing consequence, result, or effect (The moneyed couple are of such high social standing
that they cannot be ignored.”)
By this time, it should be sufficiently clear that in Justine’s first sentence, “The negotiators ultimately worked out a peace treaty
that was accepted by the warring countries,” that “that” acts as the subject of the dependent clause “that was accepted by the warring countries.”
This definitely makes it a relative pronoun and not a “that” doubling up as a subordinating conjunction. Now for Justine’s second question: “Can the sentence ‘She doesn’t want to marry her fiancé nor does she wish to give back their engagement ring’ be written as ‘She doesn’t want to marry her fiancé nor wishes to give back their engagement ring.”
My answer: The first is the perfect construction for that “not…nor” sentence. The second not only sounds “staid” (Justine’s own words) but its use of “wishes” is grammatically wrong. The correct negative parallel construction is this: ‘She
doesn’t want to marry her fiancé
nor wish to give back their engagement ring.”
(Next:
Crafting our sentences to a desired context) December 9, 2021
This essay, 2074th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the December 2, 2021 Internet edition of The Manila Times
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‘That’ as relative pronoun and subordinating conjunction
