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When we connect sentences and when we use clauses, should we omit the subject in the second sentence, or should we still use it? For example, I'm not sure whether the following are correct:

  1. An object is taken as a water feature assuming that it (water feature) has a more irregular boundary.
  2. An object is taken as a water feature assuming that has a more irregular boundary.

I remember that when I was in primary class my English teacher said things like it is who he..... Can we do the same for my above case as I mentioned?

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  • Also, 'that' is both a relative pronoun (that introduces a relative clause e.g. "This is the house that the man built") and a determiner (or 'article', a kind of adjective like 'a' or 'the' e.g. "That man built the house". So you can say "This is the house that that man built". The first 'that' is the relative pronoun, the second is the determiner.
    – Mitch
    Commented Mar 21, 2013 at 13:17
  • @Mitch Actually, to my understanding, that in "that man" is a demonstrative pronoun, and in "I think that this is so" it is a complementizer, rather than a pronoun.
    – Kaz
    Commented Mar 21, 2013 at 22:56
  • @Kaz In Mitch's sentence the that in that man and that man built is either a 'determiner' (New Style) or a 'demonstrative adjective' (Old Style). A 'demonstrative pronoun' would be the This in that sentence, which could be replaced by the demonstrative pronoun That.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Mar 22, 2013 at 1:22

2 Answers 2

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There's a bit of confusion going on. By default, assuming, just like many other verbs, may or may not be followed by that:

I assume that you're wrong.

I assume you're wrong.

In your second sentence:

An object is taken as a water feature assuming that has a more irregular boundary.

This reads not too smoothly, but the that is the one referring to the water feature, not the one which accompanies assuming; i.e., this that replaced it in your first example:

An object is taken as a water feature assuming that it has a more irregular boundary.

I'd ultimately recommend saying:

An object is taken as a water feature assuming it has a more irregular boundary.

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1.ON TOPIC:
If you are going to use the clause it has a more irregular boundary as the direct object of assuming, you may not omit the subject of that clause.

However, you may omit the subordinating conjunction that:

An object is taken as a water feature, assuming it has a more irregular boundary.

Consequently, if you omit it while including that, that will be understood not as a conjunction but as a demonstrative pronoun: the subject of the clause.

An object is taken as a water feature, assuming that (water feature) has a more irregular boundary.

2.OFF TOPIC:
Your use of assuming may be is misleading. You should use assume only of facts which are not evident or given. However, from the tenor of your previous questions, and from your subordination of the assumption, I suspect that what you are dealing with here is an object which you observe to have an irregular boundary, from which you infer that it is a water feature. In that case, what you mean is:

An object with a more irregular boundary is assumed to be a water feature.

Your sentence would be correct only if what you mean is that when you know an object is a water feature, you assume that it has a more irregular boundary, and depict it accordingly.

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