ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: "is one that"--an unnecessary phrase?

Clive — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:04:05 GMT

Hi,

(1) This show is one that will be remembered for a long, long time.
instead of simply saying
(x) This show will be remembered for a long, long time?

What, if any, does (1) add to (x) by the presence of the phrase “is one that”? And can the phrase be deleted without much alteration of meaning?

(1) This show is one that will be remembered for a long, long time. The implication is that several shows will be remembered for a long time, and this is one of them.

(x) This show will be remembered for a long, long time. There is no implication about other shows. Perhaps this is the only one that will be remembered for a long time.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: "is one that"--an unnecessary phrase?

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 04:37:51 GMT

to be honest, i believe there is no difference. maybe if you are trying to specify what show, you can use "this show is one", but I would only use this sentence in a quote. otherwise I would not include it. In my opinion, it is just an extra phrase that is useless.

"is one that"--an unnecessary phrase?

Peterguo — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 03:17:08 GMT

Hi everyone:

It's glad to be here! My question is: What point is there in saying
(1) This show is one that will be remembered for a long, long time.
instead of simply saying
(x) This show will be remembered for a long, long time?

What, if any, does (1) add to (x) by the presence of the phrase “is one that”? And can the phrase be deleted without much alteration of meaning? Other examples like (1) are:

(2) This last objection is one that applies also, though perhaps not in the same degree, to the third category. (why not "this last objection applies to...?)

(3) The vampire was one that wasn't like the Hollywood description of today but one that took one's life force not blood. (why not "the vampire wasn't like ...?)

(4) The daughter of a Catholic Priest, William Rose was one that caused considerable fear at the time.

(5) A good podcast player is one that can be updated with new podcasts automatically by your download program.

(6) A scientific statement, he said, is one that can be proved wrong, like "the sun always rises in the east".

All of (1)-(6) are taken from Google. Except in the case of (5) and (6), I cannot think of a reason for retaining the phrase “is (was) one that”. Would anyone help me figure out why it is appropriate or necessary to use that phrase, if in fact it is? (5) and (6) seem to me better with “is one that”, perhaps because they are a sort of definition concerned mainly with the adjectives (good, scientific) that precede the nouns (podcast player, statement), rather than those nouns themselves. It is as though they are asking “what is a GOOD podcast player”, rather than “what is a good PODCAST PLAYER.” Moreover they are general statements (*A* good player, *A* scientific statement). But the rest of the examples are neither definitions nor general statements: they are all concerned with a particular thing (this show, the vampire, etc). This is really odd to me. Would anyone offer a comment? Thank you in advance!!