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A watch not worth a penny was being sold there.

In this sentence, do I have to, must and should put "that is" like this?

A watch that is not worth a penny was being sold there.

tchrist
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nomera
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  • No, but the deletion robs you of a distinction ('A watch that was not worth a penny was being sold there' vs 'A watch that is not worth a penny was being sold there'). – Edwin Ashworth Aug 23 '15 at 22:56

2 Answers2

3

A watch not worth a penny was being sold there.

In this sentence, do I have to, must and should put "that is" like this?

A watch that is not worth a penny was being sold there.

No, you should not. The reason is that you cannot assume the present tense. The watch wasn't worth a penny at the time but you don't know how much it is worth now.

Therefore you can either leave the sentence unchanged, or you can add 'was', as follows:

A watch that was not worth a penny was being sold there.

I prefer the original, shorter version.

chasly - supports Monica
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2

You may, but it is perfectly idiomatic without it. It is a small clause.

Colin Fine
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  • Yes. If it's not there, I'll fill it in without even thinking about it; if I happen to be in a mood where I care about such minutiae. The guts of the meaning comes across either way. – Wayfaring Stranger Aug 30 '15 at 13:58