Why do you have to put “that” here?
"Just what did he do that was so wrong?"
Why did one put 'that' in this phrase? At first, I thought the 'that' was some things like that of "it's not that easy", but something was still off to me.
Except the one I said, the only thing came up to my mind was the objective pronoun. But you don't say
"What you look that is not what you see that."
,but say
"What you look is not what you see."
,then why there should be 'that' there?
Search from various English teachers...
Answers · 13
3
As Thomas said, "that" is a relative pronoun.
What does that mean?
It is a pronoun that connects two separate clauses (parts of sentences with verbs).
In English, every verb needs a subject-- a noun or pronoun in front of it.
Sometimes, relative pronouns are optional, and sometimes they're required.
Look at these two sentences:
A. I like dogs *that* like to run.
B. I like dogs (that) my mom likes too.
In sentence A, "that" is necessary. It is required. Why? Because the second "like" needs a subject. It needs a noun or pronoun in front of it. The word "dogs" can't be the subject, because it belongs to the first "like". Therefore, you NEED to include "that."
In sentence B, "that" is optional. You don't need to write it if you don't want to. Why? Because the subject of the second "like" is "my mother."
Now look at your sentence. What is the subject of "was"? It can't be "what," because "what" is the object of "do." So, "was" needs a subject. Therefore, you have to write "that."
There are four other common relative pronouns: which, who, when, and where. It would take a long time to describe *when* you should use each of them, so I'll just give you this sentence, *which* includes examples *where* they are used by a person *who* knows how to use them.
1
"Just what did he do that was so wrong?" is correct. Here, "that" is a relative pronoun (the antecedent is what he did) introducing a new clause where "wrong" functions as a predicate adjective for "that"/the antecedent.
With similar meaning, one could also say "Just what did he do wrong?" Here, "wrong" is an adverb.
0
"Just what did he do that was so wrong?" is correct. Here, "that" is a relative pronoun (the antecedent is what he did) introducing a new clause where "wrong" functions as a predicate adjective for "that"/the antecedent.
With similar meaning, one could also say "Just what did he do wrong?" Here, "wrong" is an adverb.
I hope this is helpful. Let me know if I can answer any further questions.
0
As a statement there would be no "that". "What he did was so wrong."
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