Question about IN THAT and EXCEPT THAT
These two areas are similar IN THAT they both have a high rainfall during this season.
EXCEPT THAT should not be used to substituted for IN THAT because the subordinate clause explainds the reason why these two areas are similar, so IN THAT should be used in the above sentence which means because. How do you think about it?
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Answers · 5
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Yes, you are right. You must bear in mind that "except that" is originally a Latin passive past participle ("exceptum") meaning "excepted that x" or "excluded that x". Therefore what follows "except that" (= x) must be an exception, an aspect in which the two nearly-identical situations that constitute the arguments of "similar" are, after all, different, although ONLY in that one respect (= x) to be immediately specified after "except that".
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Thank you Doug!
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Yep, you have it right. You would use "except that" if the subordinate clause were explaining the reason why the two areas were different.
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