質問: that節について i’m a single woman with a large extended family. i cope with the enormous project of buying christmas presents by getting them very early. everyone in my family knows this; it’s the family joke that i have all my presents purchased by halloween. my brother’s wife, jean, sent out a group text last week saying they have decided not to exchange gifts with the extended family and would only be getting gifts for each other and their own kids. they have five kids, both together and via previous marriages, so i understand, but would have appreciated more notice. my mom asked what i was going to do, and i said i’d keep the gifts for the kids but return the ones i got for my brother and jean. unfortunately, my dad, the family bigmouth, overheard us and told my brother. this weekend, jean made a snide remark about how i didn’t understand the “true meaning of christmas” and how i’m withholding their gifts simply because i’m not getting anything in return. in the moment, i snapped that she doesn’t get to spend my money for me, but on reflection i’m a little afraid she’s right. it’s the family joke thatとi snapped thatはなぜthat節がとれるのでしょうか?決まりがあるのでしょうか?よろしくお願いします
回答: > it’s the family joke thatとi snapped thatはなぜthat節がとれるのでしょうか? 前者が it is a that ... という構文であり、一種の強調文であり、普通は that を用いる (省略しない)。 後者は省略してもよいが、 i snapped a, but b. という2つの要素を持つ形の文なので、a をまず提示しておいて、次に b という要素も提示するのだという連続性の意識が働いているように見えます。that が略されても問題ないが、ない場合、文の前半だけで1つのことを言い切ってしまう感じになる。実際には、前半の in the moment ... と後半の on reflection (that) ... という異なる2つの要素を持ち出す意図があったのだから、前半では that を使って節であることを意識させ、後半では重複を避けて省略している、と見ることができるように思われます。