If a sentence is in this form: Noun+that/where+noun+transitive verb+verb+noun, can "that/where" be omitted? or is it required to omit? or is it preferred to omit?
Examples:
The toy that I hate is broken.
The beautiful place where I visited has changed a lot.
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- StaceyKoprince
- ManhattanGMAT Staff
- Posts: 9360
- Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2005 9:05 am
- Location: Montreal
In your first sentence, the "that" is functioning as an essential relative pronoun. The toy is broken. Which toy? Any toy? Nope, not any random toy - specifically, the toy that I hate. So, to know which toy I'm talking about, you need the "that I hate."
In your second sentence, the "where" is a relative adverb. It modifies a verb within a clause; the clause then modifies the noun. The sample sentence itself is a little clunky but, essentially, you need the "where" when you want to indicate some additional modifying information about a place. A cleaner sentence might be: "We stayed at the same inn where we stayed for our honeymoon six years ago." (Note that you could also say "we stayed at the same inn at which we stayed for our honeymoon six years ago" - it sounds clunkier but is technically still grammatically correct. And the GMAT sometimes prefers to use something clunkier or old-fashioned-sounding just to fool us!)
In your second sentence, the "where" is a relative adverb. It modifies a verb within a clause; the clause then modifies the noun. The sample sentence itself is a little clunky but, essentially, you need the "where" when you want to indicate some additional modifying information about a place. A cleaner sentence might be: "We stayed at the same inn where we stayed for our honeymoon six years ago." (Note that you could also say "we stayed at the same inn at which we stayed for our honeymoon six years ago" - it sounds clunkier but is technically still grammatically correct. And the GMAT sometimes prefers to use something clunkier or old-fashioned-sounding just to fool us!)
Stacey Koprince
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
Instructor
Director, Content & Curriculum
ManhattanPrep
3 posts Page 1 of 1