obmission

[mailan]

Dear Teachers:

My friend and I are arguing about the omission of 'they' in this sentence:
"She is intelligent and always asks me so many difficult questions that I don't think they are from a nine-year-old girl."

Is that sentence grammatical? Should they be deleted?

Thanks.

 

[Mehrgan]

Dear Teachers:

My friend and I are arguing about the omission of 'they' in this sentence:
"She is intelligent and always asks me so many difficult questions that I don't think they are from a nine-year-old girl."

Is that sentence grammatical? Should they be deleted?

Thanks.

Hi,
Based on the prescriptive grammar using "they" isn't appropriate at all. In your sentence, the word "that" refers to "questions", so you needn't/shouldn't bring "they" (refering to "questions" for a second time).......However, in informal English you might hear that a lot......


not a teacher...

 

[mailan]

Thank you very much.

 

[Raymott]

Dear Teachers:

My friend and I are arguing about the omission of 'they' in this sentence:
"She is intelligent and always asks me so many difficult questions that I don't think they are from a nine-year-old girl."

Is that sentence grammatical? Should they be deleted?

Thanks.

No. The 'they' can stay depending on your meaning. THe sentence is wrong with or without it.

Here are some correct sentences. With 'they':
The questions she asks are so difficult that I don't think they are from a nine year old girl.
Without 'they':
I receive a lot of difficult questions that I don't think are from a nine year old girl.

You could also say - and I think this is your intended meaning:
The questions she asks are so difficult that they don't seem to be those of a nine year girl.