that

I have this habit too. Where yours comes from I couldn't say. Mine comes from technical writing. To avoid ambiguity, we use *that* a LOT. Tech writing needs to be concise, yet crystal clear, and that is often required to make it as clear as possible.

I'm thinking about doing a search for *that* in all my work and taking out all the unnecessary ones (I know they're in there).

I do this too and my known family background doesn't get any closer to Germany than Australia (but who knows why they ended up there!). Reading aloud generally helps me prune out extra 'that's (and add missing commas).

For me, it's the word Just. I just use it way too often, and have to let myself go ahead and do it, then when the ms is done, use that global Find/replace thingiemabob to weed them out

A few indiscriminate "thats" and several unnecessary "justs" shouldn't bring the house down in flames. I'm guilty of overusing both, in particular "so that" and "just like." But I don't care. There's enough to obsess about with words that it's not worth going down a list of guilty pleasures each time a sentence is wrought.

I overuse "that" a lot too. When I was doing rewrites on my novel, I realized it and trimmed out a ton of them. I do notice I use it a lot when I'm speaking also...I'm 1/2 German but I think it's more of a regional thing here because I notice other people using it too.

What makes you think you're overusing it, just out of curiosity? There seems to be a serious rash of UNDERuse these days, so maybe you're comparing yourself to something that's incorrect in the first place?

Kristen

Kristen King said:

What makes you think you're overusing it, just out of curiosity?

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Once you become conscious of certain words you use, you begin to realize just how regularly you use them. That makes some people think they use it too often.

I don't think it's too much to worry about, since only the harshest critics give much notice to it, but it helps cure the guilt if you try to rid yourself of it.

Puma said:

Word underlines which as being undesirable but doesn't underline that. That's interesting. Puma

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That may be because which should (usually) be preceeded by a comma, but that is not.

Kristen King said:

What makes you think you're overusing it, just out of curiosity?

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In my case, my editor.

Kristen King said:

What makes you think you're overusing it, just out of curiosity? There seems to be a serious rash of UNDERuse these days, so maybe you're comparing yourself to something that's incorrect in the first place?

Kristen

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It's almost impossible to underuse the word "that." The test is pretty simple. Delete it from a sentence. If the sentence is still grammatical, and still makes sense, you should leave "that" deleted.

"That" isn't a bad word, but it is one of the most overused, and incorrectly used, words out there.

"That" should be used where needed, but far more often than not, it isn't needed. Writers use it without testing it, and this is always bad.

I find it's always a good idea to go on a "that" search and destroy mission after I finish writing a story. I wasn't aware that I overused it until someone pointed it out to me. Now I know I overuse it badly, but I don't worry about it until revision time.

That is just not something I worry about, until editing time. Just get the story down and working first, then worry about that.

Puma said:

In the last post the sentence "That makes some people...

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Ah, you got me, Puma!

Still, many people would over look overusing "that" or give recognition if you replaced it with "which" so you could probably get away with it.

A random thought- the word might be overrun by "which" soon. Sure, it'd give "that" a break, but "which" doesn't know what it's getting in to...

But "which" is used incorrectly so frequently that I'd rather have too much "that" than be over-run with incorrect "which" in its place because it sounds "fancier." They are NOT interchangeable, people! (This is directed at the last 25 pieces I've edited, not at anyone in the forum, btw. :])

Kristen

Kristen King said:

But "which" is used incorrectly so frequently that I'd rather have too much "that" than be over-run with incorrect "which" in its place because it sounds "fancier." They are NOT interchangeable, people! (This is directed at the last 25 pieces I've edited, not at anyone in the forum, btw. :])

Kristen

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The idea is to use both correctly, and not to overuse either. But "that" kills good writing.

How do you use "which" as a substitute for "that?"

Jamesaritchie said:

How do you use "which" as a substitute for "that?"

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Kristen must have meant the incorrect "which" to introduce a restrictive clause. "Here's the letter which Sam wrote today."

reph said:

Kristen must have meant the incorrect "which" to introduce a restrictive clause. "Here's the letter which Sam wrote today."

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That's exactly what I meant, and a pefect example. Thanks!

Kristen