[Grammar] Are both right?

[tianhang]

Dear teachers:
Merry christmas and happy new year! :-D
Your help is appreciated here. Are both sentences right?
Smart phones enable workers to keep in contact in what they thought was impractical before.
Smart phones enable workers to keep in contact in what they thought impractical before.
Can we omit " was " in this sentence or we must keep it?
Thanks a lot!

 

[José Manuel Rosón Bravo]

(Not a teacher)

You can omit it.

 

[Johnyxxx]

Not a Teacher.

I think you may use both modes, though the one without "was" is not used so often as the other one.
You can say so far he had thought himself alone or so far he had thought himslef to be alone.

But definitely the phrase you used in the sentence should be "keep in contact WITH", no "keep in contact IN".

 

[konungursvia]

They are both wrong. Try something like....

Smartphones enable people to stay in contact in ways previously thought impractical.

 

[José Manuel Rosón Bravo]

They are both wrong. Try something like....

Smartphones enable people to stay in contact in ways previously thought impractical.

Grammatically wrong or just that it doesn't sound good to you?

 

[bhaisahab]

Grammatically wrong or just that it doesn't sound good to you?

The original doesn't make sense.

 

[emsr2d2]

Smart phones enable workers to keep in contact in what they thought was impractical before.
Smart phones enable workers to keep in contact in what they thought impractical before.

Both sentences are grammatically incorrect. At the very least, you need to remove "what" and add "ways" instead.

 

[tianhang]

(Not a teacher)

You can omit it.

I think so. But other teachers don't think so.

 

[tianhang]

They are both wrong. Try something like....
Smartphones enable people to stay in contact in ways previously thought impractical.

Thanks a lot! You mean " what " is not correctly used here. But can your sentence be changed into : Smartphones enable people to stay in contact in ways we previously thought impractical? Thanks again! I need your further explaination.

 

[tianhang]

Both sentences are grammatically incorrect. At the very least, you need to remove "what" and add "ways" instead.

Thank you very much! I like your answer. You mean if "what" is changed into " ways", the sentence is grammatically right. Right? But as far as I know, "what" means "some way that" in this context.
I would arreciate it if you could give further explaination.

 

[tianhang]

Grammatically wrong or just that it doesn't sound good to you?

Thanks! That is just what I want to ask.

 

[Barb_D]

! But as far as I know, "what" means "some way that" in this context.
I would arreciate it if you could give further explaination.

It does not.
It is ungrammatical with "what."