Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[learner12]

Hello, teachers!!

Tom found an ideal environment in which to learn foreign languages.
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Do you need "in which"? I mean, do you accept the sentence "Tom found an ideal environment to learn foreign languages"?

Thank you in advance.

[buddhaheart]

�Which� is a relative pronoun used to connect two clauses together. You could say Tom found an ideal environment in which he could learn foreign languages. Otherwise �Tom found an ideal environment to learn foreign languages" is not an unacceptable sentence.

[learner12]

Dear buddhaheart:

Thank you so much for answering questions.

I have another question.

(1) Tom found an ideal environment in which to learn foreign languages.
(2) Tom found an ideal environment to learn foreign languages.

Which is more natural, (1) or (2)? Which do you use often?

Thank you again for your help.