The health commissioner said that the government had implemented strict measures to eradicate the contaminated food and, despite the recent illnesses, [that] it would try to prevent the outbreak from recurring in the future.
In this statement is the usage of "that" necessary?
Can't "that" be counted across parallel elements?
Thanks
Parallelism- Usage of that
This topic has expert replies
-
- Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
- Posts: 63
- Joined: Sat May 17, 2014 9:01 am
- Followed by:1 members
GMAT/MBA Expert
- [email protected]
- Elite Legendary Member
- Posts: 10392
- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
- Location: Palo Alto, CA
- Thanked: 2867 times
- Followed by:511 members
- GMAT Score:800
Hi qwerty12321,
When I first read this sentence, I considered the idea of "redundancy" (does the sentence really need a second "that"?). Since the health commissioner is presenting 2 ideas though, we must follow Parallelism rules. Since the word "that" introduces the first idea, the extra "that" is required (to introduce the second idea).
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
When I first read this sentence, I considered the idea of "redundancy" (does the sentence really need a second "that"?). Since the health commissioner is presenting 2 ideas though, we must follow Parallelism rules. Since the word "that" introduces the first idea, the extra "that" is required (to introduce the second idea).
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
- Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
- Posts: 147
- Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:52 pm
- Thanked: 53 times
- Followed by:21 members
Hi qwerty12321,
Yes, we need to keep the second "that" because of parallelism. Even though the sentence is a long one, and it seems like better writing to remove any unnecessary elements (it IS better writing to remove any unnecessary elements!), the second "that" is necessary.
In cases like this, try to quickly simplify the sentence down as much as possible to help see what is necessary and what isn't. For example:
The commissioner said that the government had done something and, [that] it would try to do something else.
It's a little easier now to see that the second "that" has to stay because of the first "that."
Keep up the good work qwerty12321.
Yes, we need to keep the second "that" because of parallelism. Even though the sentence is a long one, and it seems like better writing to remove any unnecessary elements (it IS better writing to remove any unnecessary elements!), the second "that" is necessary.
In cases like this, try to quickly simplify the sentence down as much as possible to help see what is necessary and what isn't. For example:
The commissioner said that the government had done something and, [that] it would try to do something else.
It's a little easier now to see that the second "that" has to stay because of the first "that."
Keep up the good work qwerty12321.