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Date: | Tue, 19 Sep 2000 20:55:18 -0400 |
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I would not use 'that'. I understand this is not the subject
under discussion, but the friend is a person, not an object so requires
a personal pronoun. One could say "...if he had someone he could play
with."
Caroline
On Tue, 19 Sep 2000, Johanna Rubba wrote:
> "(1)The little child is lonely; he would be happier if he had someone that
> he can play with."
>
> Do any of the native speakers on this list find this sentence
> grammatical? I can't imagine this being acceptable to anyone, but maybe
> I'm wrong. The 'that' clause requires 'could'.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Johanna Rubba Assistant Professor, Linguistics
> English Department, California Polytechnic State University
> One Grand Avenue • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
> Tel. (805)-756-2184 • Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone. 756-259
> • E-mail: [log in to unmask] • Home page: http://www.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
> **
> "Understanding is a lot like sex; it's got a practical purpose,
> but that's not why people do it normally" - Frank Oppenheimer
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
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