7 Thats
The following sentence contains 7 identical words in a row and still makes sense:
"It is true for all that that that that that that that refers to is not the same that that that that refers to."
(= It is true for all that, that that "that" which that "that" refers to is not the same "that" which that "that" refers to.)
| It | is | true | for | all | that | that | that | that | that | that | that |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pronoun | conjunction | determiner | noun | relative pronoun | determiner | noun | |||||
| (adjective) | "that" | which | (adjective) | "that" |
| refers | to | is | not | the | same | that | that | that | that | refers | to. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| noun | relative pronoun | determiner | noun | ||||||||
| "that" | which | (adjective) | "that" |
A sentence with a similar pattern, which may help to unravel the above, is:
It is true, despite everything you say, that this word which this word refers to is not the same word which this word refers to.
Or, if you insist on being really correct:
It is true, despite everything you say, that this word to which this word refers is not the same word to which this word refers.
Contributor: Josef Essberger