Word.ws English Dictionary

that

/ðət/

that conjunction: introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc.

Conjunction

that

  1. Introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc.
    • He told me that the book is a good read.
    • I believe that it is true.
  2. As delayed subject.
    • It is almost certain that she will come.
    • It amazes me that people still believe this nonsense.
  3. (literary) As direct subject.
    • That she will come is almost certain.
    • That people still believe this nonsense amazes me.
  4. Introducing the complement of a mandative verb.
    • I insist that you come.
    • The boss ordered that the worker enter the room.
  5. Introducing a clause that complements an adjective or passive participle.
    • I'm sure that you are right.
    • She is convinced that he is British.
    1. Expressing a reason or cause: because, in that.
      • Be glad that you have enough to eat.
      • I was saddened that you felt so little for me.
  6. Introducing a subordinate clause modifying an adverb.
    • Was John there? — Not that I saw.
    • How often did she visit him? — Twice that I saw.
  7. Introducing a clause that describes the information content of a preceding reporting noun.
    • I heard a rumour that they got married.
    • Reports that he left the country are circulating.
  8. Introducing — especially, but not exclusively, with an antecedent like so or such — a subordinate clause expressing a result, consequence, or effect.
    • The noise was so loud that she woke up.
    • The problem was sufficiently important that it had to be addressed.
  9. (dated) Introducing a subordinate clause that expresses an aim, purpose, or goal (“final”), and usually contains the auxiliaries may, might, or should: so, so that, in order that.
    • He fought that others might have peace.
    • Baſſ[anio]. Be aſſured you may. / Shy[lock]. I will be aſſured I may: and that I may be aſſured, I will bethinke me, may I ſpeake with Anthonio?c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act...
  10. (archaic, poetic) Introducing a premise or supposition for consideration: seeing as; inasmuch as; given that; as would appear from the fact that.
    • What are you mad, that you doe reaſon ſo?c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • [I]n 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.1859, Charles Dickens, “The Period”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book I (Recalled to Life), page 1
  11. (archaic, poetic) Introducing an exclamation expressing a desire or wish.
    • Oh that spring would come!
    • O that they were wiſe, and vnderſtoode, […]1609, The Holie Bible, […] (Douay–Rheims Bible), Doway: Laurence Kellam, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomie 32:29, page 463
  12. (archaic, poetic) Introducing an exclamation expressing a strong emotion such as sadness or surprise.
    • That men should behave in such a way!
    • Oh that I'd never set eyes on him!

Determiner

that (plural those)

  1. (demonstrative) The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as “this”, or if expressing distinction.
    • That book is a good read. This one isn't.
    • That battle was in 1450.

Pronoun

that (plural those)

  1. (demonstrative) The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action, or time indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote geographically, temporally or mentally than one designated as “this”, or if expressing distinction.
    • That's my car over there.
    • He went home, and after that I never saw him again.
    1. (demonstrative) Used to refer to a noun phrase or statement just made.
      • They're getting divorced. What do you think about that?
      • They gave me the book about whales. That I've not yet read.
    2. (demonstrative) Used to emphatically affirm or deny a previous statement or question.
      • The water is so cold! — That it is.
      • Would you like another piece of cake? — That I would!
  2. (relative, plural that) In a relative clause, referring to a previously mentioned noun, as subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition; which, who.
    • I didn't see the car that hit me.
    • The CPR course that she took really came in handy.
  3. (colloquial, relative) Used in place of relative adverbs such as where or when; often omitted.
    • the place that [= where or to which] I went last year
    • the last time that [= when] I went to Europe

Adverb

that (not comparable)

  1. (degree) Denoting an equal degree.
    • Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.
  2. (degree) Denoting ‘as much’, ‘no less’.
    • She said we waited for three hours, but I'm sure it wasn't that long.
    • It didn't seem like ten miles, but actually it was that far.
  3. (often, degree) To a great extent or degree; very, particularly.
    • I was seen quite quickly — I didn't have to wait that long.
    • I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult.
    Synonyms:
    so
  4. (Australia, UK, informal) To such an extent; so.
    • Ooh, I was that happy I nearly kissed her.
    • This was carried with that little noise that for a good space the vigilant Bishop was not awak'd with it.1693, John Hacket, “Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams”, in Archbishop Williams

Noun

that (plural thats)

  1. Something being indicated that is there; one of those.
    • 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.1998, David L. Hall, Roger T. Ames, Thinking from the Han, page 247

that meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

that in Hindi

connecting a noun clause
कि ki
what is being indicated
वह vah, वो vo, ओ o, ओह oh
that thing
वह vah, वो vo, ओ o, ओह oh
which
कि ki

that in Tamil

connecting a noun clause
எப்படி eppaṭi
what is being indicated
அந்த anta

that in Urdu

connecting a noun clause
کہ ke

that in Bengali

connecting a noun clause
যে je
what is being indicated
ওই ōi, সেই śei
that thing
ওইটা ōiṭa, ওটা ōṭa, সেইটা śeiṭa, সেটা śeṭa, ওইটি ōiṭi, ওটি ōṭi
More languagesFewer languages
that in Telugu
ఆ ā, అది adi
that in Kannada
ಆ ā, ಅವನು avanu, ಅವ ava, ಅವಳು avaḷu
that in Sanskrit
स्य sya
that in Tagalog
na, iyan, iyon
that in Arabic
أَنْ ʔan, ذٰلِكَ ḏālika, ذَاكَ ḏāka, تِلْكَ tilka
that in Malay
bahawa, itu, tu, yang
that in Indonesian
bahwa, itu, yang
that in Persian
که ke, آن ân, اون, کِه ke
that in Thai
ว่า wâa, นั่น nân, โน่น nôon, ที่ tîi
that in Vietnamese
rằng, thế, để, đó
that in Myanmar
ဟို hui, ထို htui, အဲဒါ ai:da, အဲဒီ ai:di
Sindhi
اُهو uo, اُها uhā, جيڪو jeko, جيڪا jekā
Dhivehi
އެ e

Examples of that in a sentence

  • I can see that the ladder won't reach.
  • That you could think such a thing!
  • That cat of yours is evil.
  • ‘Who's that?’ ‘It’s me.’.
  • She asked me to lend him my tools. That I couldn't do.
  • I got fed up, and that to a great degree.

All 40 example sentences with that

Synonyms of that

Antonyms

Forms of that

Conjunction
alternative form'at
alternative contraction pronunciation-spelling't
alternative formdat
alternative formthet
alternative abbreviation (obsolete)yt
alternative abbreviation (obsolete)yᵗ
alternative abbreviation (obsolete)yͭ
alternative abbreviation (obsolete)yt.
Determiner
pluralthose
Pronoun
pluralthose
Noun
pluralthats

Origin of that

From Middle English that, from Old English þæt (“the, that”, neuter definite article and relative pronoun), from Proto-West Germanic *þat, from Proto-Germanic *þat. Cognate to Scots that, Saterland Frisian dät, West Frisian dat, Dutch dat, Low German dat and datt, German dass and das, Danish det, Swedish det, Icelandic það, Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐍄𐌰 (þata). Further from Proto-Indo-European *tód; compare Ancient Greek τό (tó), Sanskrit तद् (tád), Waigali ta, Lithuanian tai̇̃, Polish to.

Words formed from that

Phrases with that

147 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with that

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about that

What does that mean?
That means introducing a clause that is the object of a verb, especially a reporting verb or verb expressing belief, knowledge, perception, etc.
What is that in Hindi?
That in Hindi is कि (ki), वह (vah), वो (vo). See That meaning in Hindi.
How do you use that in a sentence?
I can see that the ladder won't reach.
What part of speech is that?
That can be a conjunction, a determiner, a pronoun or an adverb.
How do you pronounce that?
That is pronounced /ðət/.

Words near that in the dictionary

  1. Thasians
  2. Thasos
  3. thass
  4. thassit
  5. Thassos
  6. that
  7. that accounts for the milk in the coconut
  8. that ain't hay
  9. that ain't it
  10. that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee
  11. that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: that (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-that.wav, en-us-that.ogg.

Cite this entry: “that.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/that. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.