How can I rephrase that that? [closed]

This is a common problem I face as well. Sometimes there's nothing you can do about it, and have to leave two that's together. But usually, you can fix it by using the following rule:

Replace a 'that' with what it refers to.

In any sentence with two that's, at least one of them is acting in place of another word or phrase. For example, let's break down your sentence. The first that is not referring to another word, but the second one is. It's referring to the armadillidium are not exposed to processed alcohol based scents daily part. You could just repeat that phrase in place of the that, but that would sound even more awkward. So what you can do is use a different word to refer to the phrase.

It is very possible that since the armadillidium are not exposed to processed alcohol based scents daily that because of this they showed the preference they did.

Another example would be in my previous paragraph. I write:

You could just repeat that phrase in place of the that, but that would sound even more awkward.

I could replace the second that with what it refers to: repetition.

You could just repeat that phrase in place of the that, but doing so would sound even more awkward.

It takes some practice, and you can't do this to every that you will encounter. You can do it to most though, and your writing will benefit for it.

Good luck!

Aside: Just correcting grammar as I go: Don't forget the period at the end of the sentence, and I believe you want the second to last word to be they, not the. Also the tenses in your sentence shift. It starts out in present, and ends up in past. You might want to tweak it to be one or the other.

posted over 7 years ago

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Thomas Myron‭

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