come to finding

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keannu

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I don't understand how "come to finding" is related to "the closest". Is "the closest" the object of "come to" or "finding"? Is the "that" after "closest" a relative pronoun or a conjuction?

330-113
ex)...Meteorological Society reported the discovery of two very similar rectangular snowflakes on a research plan flying over Wisconsin in November 1986. As far as I am aware, this is the closest that anyone has ever come to finding two identical snowflakes.
 

Rover_KE

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IMO 'that' is a relative pronoun here rather than a conjunction...

...but I can't see why anybody should care.


 

keannu

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Okay, Does it mean "come to the closest while finding two identical snowlflakes"?

ex)closest that anyone has ever come to finding two identical snowflakes.
 

bhaisahab

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Okay, Does it mean "come to the closest while finding two identical snowlflakes"?

ex)closest that anyone has ever come to finding two identical snowflakes.

No, the snowflakes are not identical. They are the closest to identical that anyone has ever found.
 
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