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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

English Mania - The Power of Seven

R. Edin Brow
Assistant Professor in English 
Dhanalakshmi College of Engineering

 The following sentence contains 7 identical words in a row and still makes sense:
"It is true for all that that that that that that that refers to is not the same that that that that refers to."
(= It is true for all that, that that "that" which that "that" refers to is not the same "that" which that "that" refers to.)
It
is
true
for
all
that
that
that
that
that
that
that





pronoun
conjunction
determiner
noun
relative pronoun
determiner
noun







(adjective)
"that"
which
(adjective)
"that"

refers
to
is
not
the
same
that
that
that
that
refers
to.






noun
relative pronoun
determiner
noun








"that"
which
(adjective)
"that"




A sentence with a similar pattern, which may help to unravel the above, is:

It is true, despite everything you say, that this word which this word refers to is not the same word which this word refers to.

Or, if you insist on being really correct:

It is true, despite everything you say, that this word to which this word refers is not the same word to which this word refers.

Enrich Your Vocabulary:

1. Mania : an excessive enthusiasm or desire; an obsession.
2. Identical : similar in every detail; exactly alike.
3. Unravel: investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling).

                      "They were attempting to unravel the cause of death."

4. Determiner: a modifying word that determines the kind of reference a noun or noun group has,  for example: a, the, every.
  

1 comment:

  1. What a craftily crafted sentence!!! Thanks for the share Mr. Edin. Learnt this today.

    ReplyDelete