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that - What does it mean?

Definition of 'that'

English

(wikipedia)

Conjunction

(en-con)
    • He told me that the book is a good read.
    I believe that''' it is true.'' — ''She is convinced '''that he is British.
  • because, in that.
    • Be glad that you have enough to eat.
  • so, so that.
  • * 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.
  • * 2009 , Dallas R. Burdette, Biblical Preaching and Teaching (ISBN 1615790853), page 340:
    • Jesus died that we might live "through" Him.
    • 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.
  • (archaic|or|poetic) 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.
  • * , third draft of what became (Sons and Lovers)'', in Helen Baron (editor), ''Paul Morel , Cambridge University Press (2003), ISBN 978-0-521-56009-2, 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.”
    • 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,"
  • * 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, "
  • * 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

    * 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 is 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 which 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.''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1903)

    Determiner

  • The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "(l)", or if expressing distinction.
  • *
    • |title=(The Celebrity)|chapter=8 |passage=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.}}
  • * {{quote-book|year=1922|author=(Ben Travers)|title= A Cuckoo in the Nest|chapter=1
    • |passage=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.}}
  • * {{quote-book|year=1963|author=(Margery Allingham)|title= The China Governess|chapter=20
    • |passage=‘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.’}}

    Derived terms

    * thatness *

    Pronoun

    (en-pron)
  • (lb) The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action
  • * , , 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
  • *
    • "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.
    He went home, and after that I never saw him again.
  • (lb) The aforementioned quality; (used together with a verb and pronoun to emphatically repeat a previous statement).
  • * 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."
  • (lb) Which, who.
    • the CPR course that she took really came in handy
  • * (William Shakespeare), Hamlet , act 1, scene 4:
    • By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.
  • * {{quote-news|year=2011|date=November 10|author=Jeremy Wilson|work=Telegraph
    • |title= England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report |passage=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.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine|date=2013-07-20|volume=408|issue=8845|magazine=(The Economist)
    • |title= Welcome to the plastisphere |passage=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.}}

    Usage notes

    * 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. * 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". 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

    * (that thing) here, there, this, yon, yonder

    Derived terms

    * at that

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (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..."
  • (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.
  • To such an extent; so, such. (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.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (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

    * which

    Statistics

    *

    References

    100 English basic words English degree adverbs English relative pronouns English subordinating conjunctions 1000 English basic words ----

    Similar to 'that'

    twit, tout, tit, tot, teat, twat, tat, toot, tut, taut, tweet, tatt, tuit, teet, thowt, tait, thatt, toat, twdt, thawt, thot