abhijit_sen Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Hi Bob Sorry to disturb you. But I have seen quite a lot of your wonderful explanation in TestMagic forum. To me it looks like you can solve this doubt. I know "that" is singular so should be used to refer back to singular noun, however in quite a few OG problems I have seen "that" is used to refer plural nouns. Can you please elaborate on what instances we are allowed to use "that" to refer back to plural nouns and in what instances we are not? Regards Abhijeet Sen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
800Bob Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 I know "that" is singular so should be used to refer back to singular noun, however in quite a few OG problems I have seen "that" is used to refer plural nouns. Can you please elaborate on what instances we are allowed to use "that" to refer back to plural nouns and in what instances we are not? I'm not sure what you mean. Can you give a specific example? "That" is a word that has many meanings and uses. As a demonstrative adjective, "that" is singular: That teacher is brilliant. The plural form is "those": Those teachers are brilliant. As a demonstrative pronoun "that" is singular: That is a great book. The plural form is "those": Those are great books. As a relative pronoun, "that" can be either singular or plural: ...a book that is hard to read... ...books that are hard to read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abhijit_sen Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 I'm not sure what you mean. Can you give a specific example? "That" is a word that has many meanings and uses. As a demonstrative adjective, "that" is singular: That teacher is brilliant. The plural form is "those": Those teachers are brilliant. As a demonstrative pronoun "that" is singular: That is a great book. The plural form is "those": Those are great books. As a relative pronoun, "that" can be either singular or plural: ...a book that is hard to read... ...books that are hard to read... I think it is realtive pronoun usage I am talking about. You have given a nice example but can you elaborate how the both examples are correct. I thought "that" is singular and "those" is plural. But then how come "books" are referred using "that" and not "those" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Makumajon Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Hi, when you use that as replacement of a noun in comparison, it must be singular. In such case, those is the plural form. My book is more expensive than Jane's book. My book is more expensive than that of Jane. My pens are lighter than the pens of Monica. My pens are lighter than those of Monica. But if you use that as a relative pronoun to refer to a noun elsewhere in the sentence (preferably at the immediate right of the pronoun), then that can be either singular or plural depending on the number of the noun it refers to. The tiger that I saw yesterday in the forest was a Royal Bengal tiger. The tigers that I saw yesterday in the forest were ferocious. Look further to distinguish between these two that: My book is more expensive than that of Jane. [My book & that are separate entities] The tiger that I saw yesterday in the forest was a Royal Bengal tiger. [the tiger & that are the same entity] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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