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Which one should be put in the blank?

If there’s a time ..... the grammys favor white people, I hope it’s this time.

  1. that
  2. when
  3. where

I have attempted to find the answer to this online but to no avail.

If multiple sentences I listed above are correct, what are the differences between them and in what situations would one be used over another?

I would also like to know what word class words like that, when, and where are.

3
  • Where did you see this test?
    – Cardinal
    Nov 29, 2017 at 2:23
  • @Cardinal This wasn’t found in a test. I use this type of sentence regularly and was just wondering which word would be the most suitable in situations like this.
    – danielloid
    Nov 29, 2017 at 2:25
  • I would just use when here.
    – Nick
    Nov 29, 2017 at 3:29

1 Answer 1

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As a learner I think you can use that and when. However, there are two points:

Regarding the terminology, that is a relative pronoun, but I am not one hundred percent sure that if we can call where and when a relative pronoun as Cambridge claims. Generally, I think since when and where cannot act as the subject, it's not a good idea to call them relative pronoun.

I learned to call when, where, after, and so force subordinate conjunction which are usually used to construct an adverbial clause.

In defining relative clause you can use that instead of the relative pronouns whom, who, and which while you cannot do so in non-defining relative clauses.

So, I think the sentence can be considered as:

If there’s a time which(that) the grammys favor white people, I hope it’s this time.

The other point is that replacing the relative pronoun with that makes the sentence less formal and it's more likely in conversations.

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