"That" as Relative Pronoun

Question

One may use "That" as Relative Pronoun to relate another noun in the sentence similar to other relative pronouns  who ,  whom ,  whose  and  which .

That  and  Which  are both used as noun modifiers, hence both are placed next to noun.
Were as  That  is used to restrict, limit or define the antecedent (noun it refers to) in a sentence by introducing Restrictive clause, Which is used to give additional information about the antecedent by introducing non-defining clause.

Example: 
This is the house  that  jack built.
Longest river on this planet is Nile,  which  is in Africa.

That  is also used to combine two sentences.

Here is the pen. You lent me the pen.
Here is the pen that you lent me.
 
Summing it up, 
  Which: Informs (non-essential modifier placed within commas after noun)
That: Defines (essential modifier to provide necessary information )

Note:   That  takes its plural form  Those  when it is used as demonstrative pronoun.
  Demonstrative pronouns are used to identify nouns/pronouns in a sentence.

mikemcgarry · Answer

A great post by arunspanda ! Here's a blog post that discusses all the different uses of the word " that " on the GMAT: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2013/gmat-sente ... s-of-that/ Mike :-)

RustyR · Answer

On the GMAT, can that be used for people as well? Or is it only for objects?

E.g. The waiter that spilt my drink?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear bschoolaspirant9 , The GMAT frowns on using " that " for people. I believe it always uses " who " for people. The waiter who spilled by drink was most apologetic . Does this make sense? Mike :-)

arunspanda · Answer

Magoosh GMAT Blog  has a huge repository of informative articles.
Each post is categorized and linked to the other in a very meaningful way.
In addition to explanation of Math and other important GMAT related topics, the blog has many useful posts on English grammar.
After reading few articles - Many of articles are written by you-I became very happy on my progress that I am able to comprehend some of SC grammar rules- in fact, few of them I dread often.

Before saying That's That, it is worth mentioning the following sentence structures using  that  + clause.

Structure Type I:   Subject  +  Verb  +  That -clause

He   said   that  he had spoken to you.
The  student   complained   that  the test questions were tough.

It is interesting to note that "that" is often omitted for verbs: Expect, Suppose, Hope, Think.

I expect    that   he will pass the exam.
I suppose   that   he will attend the meeting.

Structure Type II:  Subject  +  Verb  +  noun/pronoun  +  That -clause

He   promised   me   that  he would bring the book

Some of the verbs that follow the pattern: Assure, Inform, Promise, Remind, Satisfy, Tell, Warn.

Structure Type III:  So  +  Adj/Adv  +  That  - clause

The noise was  so   loud   that  we could hardly hear the song.
He ran  so   fast   that  the dog could not follow him.

Arun

arunspanda · Answer

According to the GMAT, clauses led by the pronoun  that  cannot modify people.

Reference: "Noun Modifiers with Relative Pronouns",Page 86, MGMAT SC

abhijitsehgal · Answer

In the question below, the correct answer is C, which uses 'that' to modify people. Can anyone explain why?

The nutritionist defined an obese individual  as one handicapped by a severe excess of weight with difficulty refraining from eating .

(A) as one handicapped by a severe excess of weight with difficulty refraining from eating

(B) to be one that is handicapped by an excess of weight with difficulty refraining from eating

(C) as one that is handicapped by an excess of weight and that has difficulty refraining from eating

(D) to have difficulty refraining from eating and being handicapped by a severe excess of weight

(E) as having difficulty refraining from eating and handicapped by a severe excess of weight

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear abhijitsehgal , I'm happy to respond. :-)

The first thing I will say is, with all due respect: don't be naive. Don't naively assume that every single thing that some company out there calls a GMAT SC practice question is in fact up to the standards of the GMAT. The official questions are of tremendously high quality. A few other companies, such as MGMAT and Veritas and Magoosh, write very good questions as well. To be honest, I have seen some practice questions on this site that are atrocious. As a student, you can't afford to trust every single place that simply says, " here's a high quality practice question !" You can't afford to be naive. You have to be discerning about the quality of the source. What is the source of this question? At this link: the-nutritionist-defined-an-obese-individual-200881.html a user by the name of dominicraj pointed out that the source of this is a company called " Manhattan Review ," which is NOT the same as MGMAT!! MGMAT is one of the finest companies in the GMAT prep space, but I have never heard of Manhattan Review. The name alone raises question: it would seem that a good portion of their marketing depends on folks confusing them with MGMAT. This makes me very suspicious. As for this particular question, even if the use of " that " is technically correct in this case, I don't think this is something the GMAT would have. Also, something about the phrasing, even in the "correct" answer, is awkward. It lacks the elegance typical of official questions. I would say that you have stumbled onto a practice question that does not uphold the high standards of the GMAT. Don't worry about it. Just stick to high quality questions. Here's a high quality SC practice question: https://gmat.magoosh.com/questions/3266 When you submit your answer, the following page will have a video explanation. Does all this make sense? Mike :-)

abhijitsehgal · Answer

Phew! Thanks a lot Mike. I completely agree about the quality of certain questions which completely puts me off balance from time to time, wondering if my prep is upto the mark. Thanks for the list of SC questions. Great help!

AVyas13397 · Answer

So in conclusion we should restrict the usage of that and which for animals and object?

EducationAisle · Answer

Yes, and obviously for  plants  as well.

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  VeritasKarishma   EducationAisle

Do you use  that  or  who  in this case ?

a) The people  (that/who)  I love are all gymnasts. Please correct me if I am wrong but I think we need to use  who  because  who  is used with people.

b) The army  (that/who)  I love is the Greek army.

Why is THAT used in option B ? Isn't an army, a group of people

EducationAisle · Answer

Well, none actually:).

You need to use  whom  here ( whom  again, is used for  people ).

that  would be correct here. Generally speaking, we use  that  for "collective" nouns (army, class, flock etc.)

KarishmaB · Answer

Read up on defining vs non defining clauses here first: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/veritas-prep-resource-links-no-longer-available-399979.html#/2013/1 ... at-debate/ Here, the relative clauses are defining clauses in which the relative pronouns are the objects of the clauses. You do not need the pronouns at all. Correct - The people I love are all gymnasts. The army I love is the Greek army. That said, if you want to use the relative pronoun, you will use "whom" with people because the relative pronoun is the object. You can use "that" too though it is used less commonly with people. With the army, you will use "that" (with collective nouns, we often use "that")

jabhatta2 · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB   EducationAisle  - question on relative clauses (which, that, who, whom, whose, in which...) and/or noun modifiers in general

Why can't "Relative clauses" / "noun modifiers" JUMP OVER  verbs  ?

I ask because "Relative clauses" / "noun modifiers" CAN JUMP over essential prepositional phrases / other nouns ...

Have you just memorized that noun modifiers CAN NEVER jump over  verbs  ?

thank you

KarishmaB · Answer

It's a matter of logic. If you are going to tell me something about someone or help me understand who you are talking about, you will do it when you mention his name. Not after you have mentioned the names of other people or talked about his actions etc. You will first tell me who you are talking about and then what he did.

The book on algae is lying on the table, which was gifted to me by my sister.

What are you talking about when you say "which was gifted ..."? The book or the table? I will assume that you are talking about the table now.

The modifier should be placed as close as possible to its antecedent. If the book was gifted to me by my sister, and not the table, I have to place the modifier close to the book. So

The book on algae, which was gifted to me by my sister, is lying on the table.

What was gifted to me? The book on algae. 'on algae' modifies the book and tells us exactly which book we are talking about. The whole thing 'book on algae' acts as a noun. You can't separate the book from 'on algae' and the relative clause modifies 'the book on algae.'

As I say often, don't try to look for rules 'A can jump over B' or 'B cannot jump over C.' 
Try to understand the reason. The point of language is communication with clarity and without ambiguity. Of course, there are matters of common usage that one learns over time. Read as much as possible.

EducationAisle · Answer

Who said they can't

. New data from United States Forest Service ecologists show that for every dollar spent on controlled small-scale burning, forest thinning, and the training of fire-management personnel, seven dollars are saved that would have been spent on extinguishing big fires . - "that" is modifying "seven dollars" and so, "that" is jumping over the verb are . There are numerous other such official sentences as well.

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"That" as Relative Pronoun

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