student asking question

What does "that" mean here? Is it necessary to put there?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"That" in this sentence, is combining the two clauses together in this sentence. "That" is acting as a relative pronoun and helps combine the dependent clause (Remember, we were both afraid if we started writing and calling) to the independent clause (it would slowly, you know, fade out). Usually, you need the relative pronoun for the sentence to make sense, but in this case no, having "that" isn't necessary in this sentence.

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