that refers to .............?

[aplavakarthik]

Hi,

It is really confusing to understand what 'that' in a sentence refers to.

Eg: Rahul exercises with Ajay so that he can loose weight.

Here it is very clear, that refers to Rahul/Ajay.

I understand the basic point, can some explain me with simple grammar logic/principal.

When i see an option with that i am not really able to identify what 'that' refers to. Can some one through some light on this and help me out.

[e-GMAT]

@aplavakarthik,

"that" in this sentence is not a relative pronoun. It is used along with so to connect the following two independent clauses
Clause 1: Rahul exercises with Ajay
Clause 2: he can lose weight.

Function of "so that" in this sentence is similar to usage of words like "because", "after", etc.

[Frankenstein]

Hi,
I don't think 'that' is used to refer Rahul/Ajay. 'that' is not always used only to refer something. It is used to introduce a clause, which would be the result of the preceding clause. It acts as a conjunction here.

[sl750]

That here refers to weight and not the individuals. Moreover, the pronoun that shouldn't be used to refer to living things, except when you are talking about plants or animals

[e-GMAT]

@sl750, that here does not refer to weight. As Frankenstein and I have explained in the posts above, in this sentence "that" is used to introduce a clause.

There are two common uses of "That"

1: Relative Pronoun = It replaces the noun and acts as the subject of the clause
Mary makes claims that pertain to her achievements in high school.
Here "that" acts as subject of the clause "that pertain to..."

2: Subordinate Conjunction = it connects a dependent clause to the main clause in the way because or since connects. (not in meaning but in function)
Mary makes claims that she won several awards in high school.
Here "that" simply connects the two clauses. 'she' is the subject of the dependent clause that "that" connects with the main clause "Mary makes claims".

In the sentence in question "that" plays the 2nd role.

[quesarasara]

Aha...now that makes sense. I always wondered when "that" was not the subject of the dependent clause...