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(1) It was you [ that ] I wanted to meet. (relative pronoun: objective) (2) It was you that told me to say so. (relative pronoun: subjective)
I understand you can definitely omit the objective relative pronoun that in sentence (1). Can you also omit the subjective relative pronoun that in sentence (2)? I do not think so. Could you help me clarify it? Thank you always.
DeborahJeong
Posted 2018-02-12T17:58:48.723
Reputation: 601
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You can omit the pronoun if it's the object of the relative clause, but you can't omit it if it's the subject.
It was you that I wanted to meet -> I wanted to meet (you)
It was you that told me to say so -> (You) told me to say so
In the first case, "I" is the subject, and the main clause and the connecting pronoun establish the object of the relative clause, so you can omit the pronoun. In the second, the main clause establishes the subject, and you can't say
*It was you told me to say so
Maciej Stachowski
Posted 2018-02-12T17:58:48.723
Reputation: 6 370
This has been addressed here many times; the first seems to be this question
– StoneyB on hiatus – 2018-02-12T19:38:39.530