help with "there to be + that" structure

English grammar and usage issues

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Vince_BRA
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help with "there to be + that" structure

Unread post by Vince_BRA »

Hi,

Is the 'that' in the following structures a conjunction?

There is strong circumstantial evidence THAT areas in Brazil hit hard by Zika have experienced a sharp increase in the number of babies with microcephaly.

Are there other urgent questions THAT scientists are asking?
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Josef Essberger
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Re: help with "there to be + that" structure

Unread post by Josef Essberger »

1. conjunction
2. pronoun
"We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood :? " — Dylan Thomas, Under Milk Wood

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keith
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Re: help with "there to be + that" structure

Unread post by keith »

For the first one, it's easier to see how "THAT" is a conjunction if we take a shorter sentence:

I see that your face is red.

In this sentence, "that your face is red" is a noun clause, introduced by the conjunction "that". Noun clauses act in exactly the same way as nouns, which means they can do any of the "jobs" that nouns do in a sentence. In this case, the noun clause acts as the direct object.

I - subject
see - verb
that your face is red - direct object

We can imagine a "simpler" direct object that this noun clause might replace:

I see your face.

Hope that helps!
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