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As far as I know, we should omit the pronoun in the relative clause when the relative pronoun refers to it.

For example, we should say:

1 One of the most paramount features of today's life is the Internet that people cannot dispense with.

And not say:

2 One of the most paramount features of today's life is the Internet that people cannot dispense with it.

However, I want to use the following sentence in a formal writing and I couldn't decide whether I should obey this rule in it or not.

3 These days, so widespread is the Internet that people cannot dispense with.

4 These days, so widespread is the Internet that people cannot dispense with it.

Would you please explain the wisdom behind using or not using "it" here so that we, English learners, can generalize the answer of this question to other similar situations?

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    [as far as I know] Sorry but your two first sentences are inaccurate. Also, use the internet, not just internet.
    – Lambie
    Oct 21, 2022 at 16:54
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    "The" internet is the global network. In everyday speech, "Internet" can refer to "access to the Internet." "My Internet is down" vs "The Internet is down"
    – Steve V
    Oct 21, 2022 at 17:00
  • Thanks I edited my questiom according to your comments.
    – alireza
    Oct 21, 2022 at 17:23

2 Answers 2

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Your first three examples are problematic.

What you are trying to say in examples 1 and 2 is:

The internet is such a paramount feature of life today that people cannot dispense with it. (The it is essential.)

To say: ....the internet that people cannot dispense with suggests that there might be another internet that they can dispense with.

Example 4 is fine:

Note that both examples need modifiers (like "such" and "so") to lead into the conclusion that people cannot dispense with it. You have this correct in 3 and 4.

It's like saying: The shoes are SO small that they do not fit him. Or: He has SUCH big feet that he needs special shoes.

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  • Let me ask you some questions to see if I have got it right. In your example "The internet is such a paramount feature of life today that people cannot dispense with it.", the word "that" refers to "The internet is such a paramount feature of life today", and does not only refer to "The internet", and because of this fact we should use "it" in the dependent clause. Am I right? If that referred to merely "the internet", then we should exclude the pronoun "it" from the relative clause that the word "that" introduces. I think the same goes with my example number 4. Am I right?
    – alireza
    Oct 21, 2022 at 18:29
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    that is a conjunction linking the two clauses. It does not refer to any particular word or phrase. I think a simple rule is that it is not required at the end of a simple sentence such as: The internet is too important to dispense with. But it is required as the end of the subsequent clause to refer back to the subject (the internet) in the first.
    – Ronald Sole
    Oct 21, 2022 at 22:51
  • I want to see if I have thoroughly understood your sentence ("... suggests that there might be another internet that they can dispense with."). So if I replace the Internet with a general word like "movie", then should I include "it" in this sentence: "So exciting is this movie that you should see (it)"?? Should I omit "it" to suggests that there might be another movies that are not necessary to see?
    – alireza
    Oct 22, 2022 at 5:20
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After searching, I think I know the answer of my question.

When we have an adverb clause (when our clause describe a verb, adjective, or an adverb), where "that" serves as a subordinating conjunction, we should include "it" or any other suitable pronoun, and when we have an adjective clause, where "that" serves as an relative pronoun and the noun that it describes is an object in the relative clause, then we should omit "it" or any other pronoun that refer to that noun that we want to describe.

For example in this sentence

I read the book that I bought.

"that I bought" is an adjective clause that describes "the book" so I should not say

I read the book that I bought it.

But in the following sentence

So exciting was this book that I bought it.

Here, "that I bought it" is an adverb clause that describes the adjective "so exciting". It tells us to how much extent it was so exciting. It doesn't describe "this book".

Maybe

So exciting was this book, but not to the extent that I wanted to buy it.

Please down vote me or leave me a comment if I am wrong and have given a wrong answer to my own question.

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