that

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See also: That, thật, and þat

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-Germanic *þat. Cognate to Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat, German dass and das, Danish det, Swedish det, Icelandic það.

Pronunciation[edit]

The demonstrative pronoun and determiner that is usually stressed; the conjunction and relative pronoun that is usually unstressed.

Conjunction[edit]

that

  1. Introducing a clause which is the subject or object of a verb (such as one involving reported speech), or which is a complement to a previous statement.
    He told me that the book is a good read.
    I believe that it is true. — She is convinced that he is British.
  2. Introducing a subordinate clause expressing a reason or cause: because, in that.
    Be glad that you have enough to eat.
  3. (dated) Introducing a subordinate clause that expresses an aim, purpose, or goal ("final"), and usually contains the auxiliaries may, might, or should: so, so that.
    • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I scene iii[1]:
      Bassanio: Be assured you may.
      Shylock: I will be assured I may; and, that I may be assured, I will bethink me. May I speak with Antonio?
    • 1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, III.1:
      The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, and wretches hang that jurymen may dine.
    • 1833, Parley's Magazine, volume 1, page 23:
      Ellen's mamma was going out to pay a visit, but she left the children a large piece of rich plumcake to divide between them, that they might play at making feasts.
    • 1837, The Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal (volume 23, page 222)
      That he might ascertain whether any of the cloths of ancient Egypt were made of hemp, M. Dutrochet has examined with the microscope the weavable filaments of this last vegetable.
    • c. 1845-46, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese, If Thou Must Love Me[2]:
      […] A creature might forget to weep, who bore / Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! / But love me for love's sake, that evermore / Thou mayst love on, through love's eternity.
    • 1886-88, Richard F. Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 547:
      Now one day of the days, […] the Sultan cast his eyes upon her as she stood before him, and said to his Grand Wazir, "This be the very woman whereof I spake to thee yesterday, so do thou straightway bring her before me, that I may see what be her suit and fulfil her need."
    • 2009, Dallas R. Burdette, Biblical Preaching and Teaching, →ISBN, page 340:
      Jesus died that we might live "through" Him.
  4. Introducing — especially, but not exclusively, with an antecedent like so or such — a subordinate clause expressing a result, consequence, or effect.
    The noise was so loud that she woke up.
    The problem was sufficiently important that it had to be addressed.
    • 2008, Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 23 May 2008:
      My dad apparently always said that no child of his would ever be harassed for its poor eating habits, and then I arrived, and I was so disgusting that he revised his opinion.
  5. (archaic or poetic) Introducing a premise or supposition for consideration: seeing as; inasmuch as; given that; as would appear from the fact that.
    • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors:
      What, are you mad, that you do reason so?
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities:
      In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
    • c. 1911, D.H. Lawrence, third draft of what became Sons and Lovers, in Helen Baron (editor), Paul Morel, Cambridge University Press (2003), →ISBN, page 234:
      “She must be wonderfully fascinating,” said Mrs Morel, with scathing satire. “She must be very wonderful, that you should trail eight miles, backward and forward, after eight o’clock at night.”
  6. Introducing a subordinate clause modifying an adverb.
    Was John there? — Not that I saw.
    How often did she visit him? — Twice that I saw.
    • 1866 October 6, Anthony Trollope, The Claverings, part 8, in Littell's Living Age, number 1166 (series 4, number 27), page 27:
      " […] I will go anywhere that she may wish if she will go with me,"
  7. (archaic or poetic) Introducing an exclamation expressing a desire or wish.
    Oh that spring would come!
    • 1864, T. S. Norgate's translation of the Iliad, book 10, page 613:
      "Would that my rage and wrath would somehow stir me, / Here as I am, to cut off thy raw flesh / And eat it."
    • 1892, Paolo Segneri, The Manna of the Soul: Meditations for Each Day of the Year:
      "Oh, that they would be wise, and would understand, […] "
  8. Introducing an exclamation expressing a strong emotion such as sadness or surprise.
    • 1610, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, act 1, scene 2, page 4:
      I pray thee, mark me — that a brother should / Be so perfidious! —

Usage notes[edit]

  • That can be used to introduce subordinate clauses, but can just as easily be omitted: one can say either “he told me that it’s a good read” (in which case the second clause is a “that clause”) or “he told me it’s a good read” (in which case the second clause is a “bare clause”).
  • Historically, “that” was usually preceded by a comma (“he told me, that it’s a good read”) — such usage was, for example, recommended by the grammarian Joseph Robertson in his 1785 essay On Punctuation — but this is now generally considered nonstandard.
  • Historically, that was sometimes used after a preposition to introduce a clause that was the object of the preposition, as in “after that things are set in order here, we’ll follow them” (Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI), which simply means “after things are set in order...” and would be worded thus in modern English.[1]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Determiner[edit]

that (plural those)

  1. The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction.
    That book is a good read. This one isn't.
    That battle was in 1450.
    That cat of yours is evil.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
      The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      She was like a Beardsley Salome, he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess:
      ‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’
    • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
      The gym is across from the lounge. It’s next to the mailroom. Go that way. — Thanks, Pete! — No, Anna! Not that way! Go that way!
      Audio (US)
      		(file)

Usage notes[edit]

  • This is known as a "demonstrative adjective" in traditional terms.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

that (plural those)

  1. (demonstrative) The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action, or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "this", or if expressing distinction. [from 9thc.]
    • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act 3, Scene 1:
      To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?
    • 1888 July, The Original Secession Magazine, page 766:
      [He] was qualified and fitted, both intellectually and morally, — and that to an exceptional extent — to be the Head […]
    • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen, OCLC 12026604; republished New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1919, OCLC 491297620:
      "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that. I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't steal."
    • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game (Folio Society 2010), page 310:
      However […], the British were unable to do much about it short of going to war with St Petersburg, and that the government was unwilling to do.
    • 2005, Joey Comeau, Lockpick Pornography (Loose Teeth Press):
      I've never seen someone beaten unconscious before. That’s lesbians for you.
    That's my car over there.
    He went home, and after that I never saw him again.
  2. The known (thing); used to refer to something just said.
    They're getting divorced. What do you think about that?
  3. (demonstrative) The aforementioned quality or proposition; used to emphatically affirm or deny a previous statement or question.
    The water is so cold! — That it is.
    Would you like another piece of cake? — That I would!
    We think that you stole the tarts. — That I did not!
    • 1910, Helen Granville-Barker, An Apprentice to Truth, page 214:
      "She is very honourable," said Mrs. Thompson, solemnly. "Yes, one sees she is that, and so simple-minded."
  4. (relative) (plural that) Which, who; representing a subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition. [from 9thc.]
    The CPR course that she took really came in handy.
    The house that he lived in was old and dilapidated.
    • c. 1600, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, scene 4:
      By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.
    • 2011 November 10, Jeremy Wilson, “England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report”, in Telegraph:
      His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
  5. (colloquial) Used in place of relative adverbs such as where or when; often omitted.
    the place that [= where or to which] I went last year
    the last time that [= when] I went to Europe

Usage notes[edit]

  • Some authorities prescribe that that should only be used in restrictive contexts (where the relative clause is part of the identification of the noun phrase) and which or who/whom should be used in non-restrictive contexts; in other words, they prescribe "I like the last song on the album, which John wrote". In practice, both that and which are found in both contexts.[2]
  • In a restrictive relative clause, that is never used as the object of a preposition unless the preposition occurs at the end of the clause; which is used instead. Hence "this is the car I spoke of" can be rendered as "this is the car that I spoke of" or "this is the car of which I spoke", but not as *"this is the car of that I spoke."
  • That refers primarily to people or things; which refers primarily to things, and who refers primarily to people. Some authorities insist who/whom be used when making reference to people, but others, such as the Merriam-Webster dictionary, write that such prescriptions are "without foundation" and use of that in such positions is common and "entirely standard".[2] Hence, one sees both "he is the man who invented the telephone" and "he is the man that invented the telephone."
  • When that (or another relative pronoun, like who or which) is used as the subject of a relative clause, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the pronoun. Thus "The thing that is...", "The things that are...", etc.
  • In the past, bare that could be used, with the meaning "the thing, person, etc indicated", where modern English requires that which or what. Hence the King James translation of John 3:11 is "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen" while the New International Version has "we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen".

Antonyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Adverb[edit]

that (not comparable)

  1. (degree) To a given extent or degree.
    "The ribbon was that thin." "I disagree, I say it was not that thin, it was thicker... or maybe thinner..."
  2. (degree) To a great extent or degree; very, particularly (in negative constructions).
    I'm just not that sick.
    I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult.
    Synonym: so
  3. (informal, Britain, Australia) To such an extent; so. (in positive constructions).
    Ooh, I was that happy I nearly kissed her.
    • 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams (Archbishop Williams):
      This was carried with that little noise that for a good space the vigilant Bishop was not awak'd with it.

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

that (plural thats)

  1. (philosophy) Something being indicated that is there; one of those.
    • 1998, David L. Hall, Roger T. Ames, Thinking from the Han, page 247:
      As such, they do not have the ontological weight of "Being" and "Not-being," but serve simply as an explanatory vocabulary necessary to describe our world of thises and thats.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1903)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “that” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

Anagrams[edit]

Acehnese[edit]

Adverb[edit]

that

  1. many
  2. a lot

German[edit]

Verb[edit]

that

  1. First-person singular preterite of thun.
  2. Third-person singular preterite of thun.

Middle English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English þæt, þat, þet (“the, that”), from Proto-Germanic *þat.

Pronunciation[edit]

Conjunction[edit]

that

  1. that (connecting a noun clause)

Alternative forms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • English: that
  • Scots: that

References[edit]

Pronoun[edit]

that

  1. that (relative & demonstrative pronoun)

Alternative forms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Determiner[edit]

that

  1. that (what is being indicated)

Alternative forms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Adverb[edit]

that

  1. that (to a given extent or degree)

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

Old Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *þat.

Pronoun[edit]

that n

  1. that, that one

Further reading[edit]

  • “that (I)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
  • “that (III)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Determiner[edit]

that n

  1. that

Inflection[edit]

Declension of thie
SingularPlural
MasculineNeuterFeminine
nominativethiethatthiathie
accusativethenthatthiethie
genitivethesthestherothere
dativethemothemotherothen
instrumentalthiu


Descendants[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “that (I)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
  • “that (III)”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Old Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Proto-Germanic *þat.

Determiner[edit]

that

  1. nominative/accusative singular neuter of thē

Descendants[edit]

  • Dutch Low Saxon: dat
  • German Low German: dat
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