Friday, April 29, 2016

relative pronouns - Why is "that"/"which" omitted in this sentence?


In the sentence:



All the information you need is in these folders.




I would have expected to find:



All the information that/which you need is in these folders.



Why are those omitted?



Answer



Complementizers (words which introduce an embedded clause) can be elided in English.


So the answer to your question is: it is omitted simply because it can be omitted, and the writer and speaker chose to do that.


Sometimes speakers and writers take advantage of this and save a word, and sometimes they put in the complementizer that or which, even though it isn't necessary.


Complementizers can be omitted even in sentences like these: "Tell Bob Jones stopped by". Although at first glance it looks as if "Bob Jones" is one name, it doesn't make sense that way. Furthermore, in speech, it can be made clear where the break is.



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