Way 的第 11 個用法:that-clause

除了上述的 10 種用法外,以下三句話哪些是對的?(本文涉汲相當困難的文法,已將所有想法的來源列於 reference,若有錯誤請不吝指正!)
a) I love the way that John solves every problem in his life.
b) I love the way John solves every problem in his life.
c) I love the way in which John solves every problem in his life.

a,b,c 都是正確的。

(b) 怎麼可以省略 that?

(b) 省略掉 that 的用法,其實並不符合傳統關代的省略規則,然而,這裡的 that 其實本質上並不是個關代,而是一個 that-clause 的用法(參考 ref. 8)。that-clause 有三種,基本上都可以把 that 省掉(可以在 corpus 裡查到大量省略用法,參考 ref. 6 & 7)

I heard (that) you feel better => 放在動詞後面。
I am glad (that) you feel better. => 放在形容詞後面。
I did it in the hope (that) you could feel better. => 放在名詞後面。

(c) 應注意 Subtle Difference

I love the way (that) John solves every problem in his life. 這邊的 that 是 the way 的等位語,所以說,原句意思是「我喜歡的是一個風格」,什麼風格呢?那就是 that 帶出來的這個事實:「John 把人生所有的問題都解決了」(請參考 Ref. 1)

I love the way in which John solves every problem in his life. 因為使用了「in」這個字,那就不是 that-clause 了,而是一個「限定關代」,可以想做:John solves every problem in this way,結果,原句的意思就變成是「我喜歡的是一個方法

時間表達也有類似的 subtle difference issue

影片 15:30 指出,last/this/next/every 接時間的話,就不再需要 in/on/at,然而,如果接的話,就會有不同的意思(參考 ref. 2, 3, 4):

Last night I was in Paris. Today I am in Rome. => 就是指昨晚。
We plan to be in Paris for two weeks. On the last night we will go to the most expensive restaurant in Paris. => 指的是「最後一晚」。

Reference

  1. https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/the-way-the-way-that-the-way-in-which.3444747/
  2. https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/on-the-last-night-or-last-night.1915852/
  3. https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/omission-of-the-preposition-before-days-dates-months-years-period-of-time.3350570/
  4. https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/died-on-tuesday-night.2827423/
  5. https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/elision-of-that.50303/
  6. https://youglish.com/pronounce/in%20the%20hope%20they/english
  7. https://netspeak.org/#q=in+the+hope+they&corpus=web-en
  8. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/that-clauses

Practice More with Time Phrases