THAT
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
THAT#1
Posted: 6/18/10 at 4:37pm
So I'm back in school and I've been writing a lot of papers over the past year and I've been good about correcting the first draft. I used to be bad and just turn the paper in as is but I'm being good about it. Anyway... I've always taught myself trim the fat from my papers because I always tend to write impersonal in the first draft and I've noticed the one thing that I keep deleting is the word "that." For example..
"it is the best kind of help that you can give"
"they mention that if you wanted to go.."
I have a lot of sentences that use "that." Just to be sure, am I correct in wanting to remove it from the sentences? Is it too wordy to keep it in?
The worst part, I was an English major and I still don't know! haha
THAT#2
Posted: 6/19/10 at 1:20am
There are times when you NEED the word to clarify the sentence...but often it IS unnecessary. But unnecessary and WRONG are two different things.
ANY time you notice common words too often in your writing is probably a sign you are over using it.
THAT#2
Posted: 6/19/10 at 4:44pmMy father, a college professor, always told me to avoid using "it." "That," I have found, falls under the same category. The word is too unspecific most of the time.
THAT#3
Posted: 6/22/10 at 1:54pm
In the two examples you chose, it appears the word "that" can be omitted entirely, but it's very difficult to tell out of context.
For example, the above sentence could read:
In the two examples that you chose, it appears that the word "that" can be omitted entirely, but it's very difficult to tell that out of context.
Three cases where "that" is understood, but not required for clarification. Try deleting some of them to see if the sentence still makes sense.
THAT#4
Posted: 6/22/10 at 1:57pmAgree that 'that' is overused. Another oversued and misused work is 'myself'.
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