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Is that you stole my watch?

Is that you who stole my watch?

Is the first sentence idiomatic? I suppose we don't need to add "who" in that example, it's redundant because "you" is a subject and a main verb for "you" is "stole". We don't have a main verb for "who" in that example, so we don't need to add "who". Is that a right explanation?

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    I'm not sure either of these sentences is right. Can you give an expanded version to clarify the meaning?
    – IMSoP
    Feb 9, 2022 at 9:58
  • @IMSoP, Is that you are the person who stole my watch?
    – Sergei
    Feb 9, 2022 at 10:29
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    That is a dummy subject, not you. To me it doesn't sound right without who. Was it you who stole my watch? Feb 9, 2022 at 10:43
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    Neither are idiomatic. You could say "Did you steal my watch?" (emphasis on you) or "Are you the person who stole my watch?"
    – tgdavies
    Feb 9, 2022 at 10:46
  • @Andrew Tobilko, I understand you grammar tense choice but in my grammar book is "Is that the girl who stole your wallet?". So, I have tried to construct my version of that grammar rule. Do you think "Was it you who stole my watch?" sounds better than "Is that you who stole my watch?". Maybe, these sentences can be used in different circuimstances?
    – Sergei
    Feb 9, 2022 at 12:30

1 Answer 1

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If I understand correctly what you're trying to say, the correct form would be:

Is it you who stole my watch?

Note the use of "is it" rather than "is that" - "that" generally refers to something external, as in "that person over there". We might say "is that you?" when pointing at a picture, and asking if it's a picture of the person we're speaking to, for instance. In this case, we're not pointing to any particular thing, so we just use the more neutral "it".

Or even, since the action occurred in the past:

Was it you who stole my watch?

This can be read as two clauses, which could stand as sentences on their own:

Who stole my watch? Was it you?

In the combined sentence, the "who" acts as a relative pronoun, like "which", and is the subject of the second clause. Compare:

Was it the elephant which stole my watch, or the monkey?

Was it John who stole my watch, or James?

Was it you who stole my watch, or someone else?

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  • Why do you not use the construction "Is that you..."? Does "Is it you..." sound better? In my grammar book I have an example: "Is that the girl who stole your wallet?" Does it sound good? If it sounds good, I think I can use "Is that you who stole my watch?". What do you think?
    – Sergei
    Feb 9, 2022 at 12:22
  • @Sergei "Is it" definitely sounds more natural than "is that" here; I've updated the answer with an attempt to explain why, but someone else might be able to give a clearer explanation.
    – IMSoP
    Feb 9, 2022 at 12:28
  • Thank you for your explanation! If I understand you right, you think "Was it you who stole my watch?" is better appropriate here than "Is it you who stole my watch?". Because of we speak about the action in the past. But the example "Is that the girl who stole your wallet?" also sounds good because "Is that the girl..." isn't talking about the action in the past but about our pointing at the picture/person at the moment. Am I right?
    – Sergei
    Feb 9, 2022 at 12:46
  • @Sergei Yes, I think that's it exactly.
    – IMSoP
    Feb 9, 2022 at 13:09

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