that [that; unstressed thuht]
Main Entry:
that [that; unstressed thuht]
Part of Speech: conjunction
Definition: because
Synonyms: in order that, in that, so, so that
Notes: in current usage, that refers to persons or things and which is used chiefly for things. The standard rule says that one uses that only to introduce a restrictive or defining relative clause - one that identifies the person or thing being talked about. An example is "The fort that Keir built has to be taken down" and the clause "that Keir built" describes which fort has to be taken down, i.e. it is restrictive. In contrast, which is used only with nonrestrictive or nondefining clauses. This type of clause gives additional information about something that has already been identified in the context. An example is "The students have been complaining about the assigned novel, which is hard to understand." The clause "which is hard to understand" is nonrestrictive as it does not indicate the specific novel being complained about. In a sentence including a nonrestrictive clause, the sentence would still be clear even if the clause were omitted. One will find that which sounds more natural than that in
Main Entry: that
Part of Speech: pronoun
Definition: the one
Synonyms: that fact, that one, that other, the one in question, which, who
Main Entry: another
Part of Speech: preposition, determiner
Definition: additional, different
Synonyms: a distinct, a further, a separate, added, else, farther, fresh, further, more, new, one more, other, some other, that
Main Entry: such
Part of Speech: adverb, pronoun
Definition: aforementioned, specific
Synonyms: aforesaid, akin, alike, analogous, comparable, corresponding, equivalent, like, parallel, said, similar, such a one, such a person, such a thing, suchlike, that, the like, this
Main Entry: this
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: the
Synonyms: aforementioned, already stated, here, previously mentioned, that, the indicated, the present
Main Entry: this
Part of Speech: pronoun
Definition: the one
Synonyms: that, the aforementioned one, the one in question, the thing indicated, this one, this person
Main Entry: what if
Part of Speech: conjunction
Definition: suppose that
Synonyms: but, imagine, supposing, that
Main Entry: which
Part of Speech: conjunction
Definition: what
Synonyms: and that, that, whatever, whichever
Notes: in current usage, that refers to persons or things and which is used chiefly for things. The standard rule says that one uses that only to introduce a restrictive or defining relative clause - one that identifies the person or thing being talked about. An example is "The fort that Keir built has to be taken down" and the clause "that Keir built" describes which fort has to be taken down, i.e. it is restrictive. In contrast, which is used only with nonrestrictive or nondefining clauses. This type of clause gives additional information about something that has already been identified in the context. An example is "The students have been complaining about the assigned novel, which is hard to understand." The clause "which is hard to understand" is nonrestrictive as it does not indicate the specific novel being complained about. In a sentence including a nonrestrictive clause, the sentence would still be clear even if the clause were omitted. One will find that which sounds more natural than that in
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