That 302697 225708932 2008-07-15T00:42:52Z DavidRF 1302553 /* Phrases */ section needs a more specific name.... {{for|Hindustani musical modal system|Thaat}} {{for|a small car manufactured by Honda|Honda That's}} {{redirect|That's|the brand of recordable media|Taiyo Yuden}} {{wiktionarypar2|that|those}} The word '''''that''''' is used in the [[English language]] for several [[grammar|grammatical]] purposes: * to introduce a [[restrictive clause]] * as a [[demonstrative pronoun]] * as a [[complementizer]]. In the [[Old English language]] ''that'' was spelled ''þæt''. It was also abbreviated as a letter Thorn, ''[[þ]]'', with the ascender crossed ( [[Image:OE thaet.png| ]] ). In [[Middle English]] the letter Ash, ''[[æ]]'', was replaced with the letter ''a'', so that ''that'' was spelled ''þat'', or sometimes ''þet''. The ascender of the ''þ'' was reduced (making it similar to the Old English letter [[Wynn]], {{Unicode|ƿ}}), which necessitated writing a small ''t'' above the letter to abbreviate the word ''that'' ( [[Image:ME that.png| ]] ). In latter Middle English and [[Early Modern English]] the ''þ'' evolved into a ''y'' shape, so that the word was spelled ''yat'' (although the spelling with a ''th'' replacing the ''þ'' was starting to become more popular) and the abbreviation for ''that'' was a ''y'' with a small ''t'' above it ( [[Image:EME that.png| ]] ). This abbreviation can still be seen in reprints of the 1611 edition of the [[King James Version of the Bible]] in places such as 2 Corinthians 13:7. == Phrases involving repeated "that"s== "That" can be used five times in a row, in a grammatically correct sentence: <blockquote> He said that that 'that' that that man used was wrong.<ref>http://www.rightwords.co.nz/that.html</ref> </blockquote> Or six times: <blockquote> He said that that 'that' that that 'that' modified was wrong. </blockquote> Or seven times:<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/81/16383.html Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. That<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> <blockquote> Did the editor know that, that that 'that' that that 'that' followed was redundant?<ref>[http://www.opundo.com/sayagain.htm opundo-repetition<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> </blockquote> The same thing is possible with the German equivalent of that 'das', with the exception that 'das' is sometimes written 'dass' (or older 'daß') to make it easier to read, though it is pronounced the same way. The pattern can be repeated indefinitely and retain its grammatical correctness: <blockquote> Did you know that that 'that' that that 'that' that that 'that' that that 'that'... </blockquote> Other patterns of grammatically correct multiple consecutive occurrences are also possible. For example: <blockquote> That that is is that that that that is not is not. </blockquote> == References == <references /> * http://www.jtbullitt.com/projects/tangible-intuitions/words-fail/that == See also == *[[This]] *[[English relative clauses#That and which|English relative clauses]] *''That'' is also the [[Lao language|Lao]] word for [[stupa]]. [[Category:English pronouns]] [[de:Das/dass]] {{ling-stub}}