Can I omit that in the following sentences?
The weather is such that we can only stay in air-conditioned places.
The difference is such that all will perceive it.
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1Two examples from McMillan Dictionary to justify the correctness of these sentences. Their relationship was– KhanAug 24, 2014 at 18:37
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2 Answers
Such that is a special construction in which that cannot be omitted. And it's not a determiner since it doesn't take up the determiner slot in an NP and indeed doesn't belong to an NP at all. (NP = Noun Phrase)
When the adjective such is used predicatively the content clause generally follows immediately, but it does not have to:
i) His circumstances were such that he could rarely afford a restaurant meal.
ii) Such is the mystique of planning that people expect that fulfilment of the plan will follow automatically upon its announcement.
iii) The angle of attack was such on take-off that several passengers reported hearing the fuselage scrape the runway. (CGEL, p.968)
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@snailplane Okay.Thanks for pointing it out. I edited and improved my answer above.– user6200Aug 24, 2014 at 19:19
The words such and that when used together are indicative of a particular situation, behaviour or action with its resultant effect. It is not possible to omit that in the provided sentences where it has been used as a pronoun (Macmillan dictionary). We usually leave out that in sentences (in spoken & informal English) when it is used as a conjunction or when it is used as a pronoun as the object of a verb. The sentences mentioned are correct. I cite the following two examples from Macmillan Dictionary to justify their correctness, which are like the sentences asked.
Their relationship was such that they spent every possible minute together.
Their confidence was such that they spent $ 200,000 on TV advertising for their first album.
