that
part of speech
pronoun, determiner (that, those); conjunction; adverb
meaning for a pupil
1) That points to a thing that was named before or that is farther away: «that box over there». tree →
2) That joins a sentence to what someone says or thinks: «I know that 2 + 2 is 4». tree →
3) That can mean «which» or «who» in a description: «the cake that Mum made». tree →
4) That can mean «so» or «very»: «It was not that hard». tree →
5) (casual) «That's it», «that's that» mean it is finished; «and all that» means and similar things. tree →
6) (rude) «that» can point at someone in a cold or rude way: «Who does that think he is?»; «that's rich» is sarcasm. tree →
7) (formal) Exams use «that which», «such that», «given that», «so that» and «in that» to join facts. tree →
sense in the lessons
a word pointing back: «I cannot do that»; «than that box»; in problems find what it points to; phrases: «that's right», «after that», «like that», «that is to say», «that's all»; in casual talk «that's it», «not that much», «that's so cool», «that lot» (UK, those people); in rough talk «that's rich, coming from you», «don't give me that»; in the exam voice «it is given that», «such that», «that is» (i.e.)
examples
- That box has 9 pencils. tree →
- Tom has 4 more than that. tree →
- Is that your coat on the hook? tree →
- I think that the answer is 12. tree →
- This is the book that I told you about. tree →
- Those apples are green, but these are red. tree →
- After that, we went home. tree →
- That's it, no more biscuits, you've had 4. tree →
- It's not that hard, just add 'em. tree →
- Don't give me that, you ate 3! tree →
- Find a number such that its double is 14. tree →
- It is given that the box contains 9 pencils. tree →
- That is how I lost it. tree →
note
Plural: those. «this/these» are near, «that/those» are far. Carries no operation clue; find the thing it points back to. Trap: in «more than that», the number is the one just named. «such that» in an exam gives a condition the answer must meet. «that is» or «i.e.» means «in other words».
In the corpora
- Shops, hospitals, buses and factories need people at all hours, so their workers follow a rota that can change every week.
- In the UK a strike is legal after a vote, and the disruption is deliberate so that people notice.
- Heating a room with the window open sends the warm air, and the money that paid for it, straight outside.
- A debit card spends money already in the account; a credit card borrows money that must be paid back later.
- A PIN is the secret number that proves the card is yours.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «that» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.