What vs That - What's the difference?
what | that |
(interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.
(relative, nonstandard) That; which.
* 1902 , , (The Admirable Crichton) :
(relative) That which; those that; the thing that.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)
, volume=189, issue=2, page=48, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= In some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with .
Such.
(label) Why?
* (rfdate) (Chaucer)
* (rfdate) (John Milton)
Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both…and.
* :
* 1605 Wm. Shakespeare, King Lear
(British, colloquial, dated) Is that not true?
Which; which kind of.
How much; how great (used in an exclamation).
(obsolete) something; thing; stuff
* Spenser
because, in that.
so, so that.
* 1714 , (Alexander Pope), The Rape of the Lock , III.1:
* 1833 , Parley's Magazine , volume 1, page 23:
* 2009 , Dallas R. Burdette, Biblical Preaching and Teaching (ISBN 1615790853), page 340:
* 2008 , Zoe Williams, The Guardian , 23 May 2008:
(archaic, or, poetic) seeing as; inasmuch as; given that; as would appear from the fact that.
* 1623 , (William Shakespeare), The Comedy of Errors :
* 1859 , (Charles Dickens), (A Tale of Two Cities):
* , third draft of what became (Sons and Lovers)'', in Helen Baron (editor), ''Paul Morel , Cambridge University Press (2003), ISBN 978-0-521-56009-2,
* 1866 October 6, Anthony Trollope, The Claverings'', part 8, in ''Littell's Living Age , number 1166 (series 4, number 27), page 27:
* 1864 , T. S. Norgate's translation of the Iliad , book 10, page 613:
* 1892 , Paolo Segneri, The Manna of the Soul: Meditations for Each Day of the Year :
* 1610 , (William Shakespeare), The Tempest , act 1, scene 2, page 4:
The (thing, person, idea, etc) indicated or understood from context, especially if more remote physically, temporally or mentally than one designated as "(l)", or if expressing distinction.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=
, passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.}}
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=
, passage=‘No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.’}}
(lb) The thing, person, idea, quality, event, action
* , , Scene 1:
* 1888 July, The Original Secession Magazine , page 766:
*
* 1990 , (Peter Hopkirk), The Great Game (Folio Society 2010), page 310:
* 2005 , (Joey Comeau), Lockpick Pornography (Loose Teeth Press):
(lb) The aforementioned quality; (used together with a verb and pronoun to emphatically repeat a previous statement).
* 1910 , Helen Granville-Barker, An Apprentice to Truth , page 214:
(lb) Which, who.
* (William Shakespeare), Hamlet , act 1, scene 4:
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 10, author=Jeremy Wilson, work=Telegraph
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (degree) To a given extent or degree.
(degree) To a great extent or degree; very, particularly (in negative constructions).
To such an extent; so, such. (in positive constructions).
* 1693 , (John Hacket), Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams'' (''Archbishop Williams ):
(philosophy) Something being indicated that is there; one of those.
* 1998 , David L. Hall, Roger T. Ames, Thinking from the Han , page 247:
In relative terms the difference between what and that
is that what is that which; those that; the thing that while that is which, who.As pronouns the difference between what and that
is that what is which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc while that is 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.As adverbs the difference between what and that
is that what is in some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with while that is to a given extent or degree.As determiners the difference between what and that
is that what is which; which kind of while that is 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.As nouns the difference between what and that
is that what is something; thing; stuff while that is something being indicated that is there; one of those.As an interjection what
is An expression of surprise or disbelief.As a conjunction that is
Introducing a clause that is the subject or object of a verb (such as one involving reported speech), or that is a complement to a previous statement.what
English
(wikipedia what)Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- That’s her; that’s the thing what has stole his heart from me.
The tao of tech, passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast […, or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",
Adverb
(-)- What should I tell the answer of the knight?
- But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates?
- And as for on C good knyghtes I haue my self / but I fawte / l / for so many haue ben slayne in my dayes / and so Ladegreans delyuerd his doughter Gweneuer vnto Merlyn / and the table round with the C knyghtes / and so they rode fresshly with grete royalte / what' by water and ' what by land / tyl that they came nyghe vnto london
Synonyms
* suchInterjection
(en interjection)- What , have his daughters brought him to this pass?
- What ! That’s amazing.
- It’s a nice day, what'''?'' (sometimes repeated, e.g.: '''''What'''-'''what ? )
Determiner
(en determiner)- What shirt are you going to wear?
- What time is it?
- What kind of car is that?
- What talent he has!
- What a talent!
Derived terms
* wat * what ho * whatness * what's whatNoun
(-)- They prayd him sit, and gave him for to feed / Such homely what as serves the simple clowne, / That doth despise the dainties of the towne
Statistics
*that
English
(wikipedia that)Conjunction
(English Conjunctions)- He told me that the book is a good read.
- I believe that''' it is true.'' — ''She is convinced '''that he is British.
- Be glad that you have enough to eat.
- The hungry judges soon the sentence sign, and wretches hang that jurymen may dine.
- Ellen's mamma was going out to pay a visit, but she left the children a large piece of rich plumcake to divide between them, that they might play at making feasts.
- Jesus died that we might live "through" Him.
- The noise was so loud that she woke up.
- The problem was sufficiently important that it had to be addressed.
- My dad apparently always said that no child of his would ever be harassed for its poor eating habits, and then I arrived, and I was so disgusting that he revised his opinion.
- What, are you mad, that you do reason so?
- In 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.
page 234:
- “She must be wonderfully fascinating,” said Mrs Morel, with scathing satire. “She must be very wonderful, that you should trail eight miles, backward and forward, after eight o’clock at night.”
- Was John there? — Not that''' I saw.'' — — — ''How often did she visit him? — Twice '''that I saw.
- " I will go anywhere that she may wish if she will go with me,"
- "Would that my rage and wrath would somehow stir me, / Here as I am, to cut off thy raw flesh / And eat it."
- "Oh, that they would be wise, and would understand, "
- I pray thee, mark me — that a brother should / Be so perfidious! —
Usage notes
* That'' can be used to introduce subordinate clauses, but can just as easily be omitted: one can say either "he told me that it's a good read" (in which case the second clause is a "''that clause") or "he told me it's a good read" (in which case the second clause is a "bare clause"). * Historically, "that" was usually preceded by a comma ("he told me, that it is a good read") — such usage was, for example, recommended by the grammarian Joseph Robertson in his 1785 essay On Punctuation — but this is now generally considered nonstandard. * Historically, that'' was sometimes used after a preposition to introduce a clause which was the object of the preposition, as in "after that things are set in order here, we'll follow them" (Shakespeare, ''1 Henry VI''), which simply means "after things are set in order..." and would be worded thus in modern English.''The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1903)Determiner
A Cuckoo in the Nest, chapter=1
The China Governess, chapter=20
Derived terms
* thatness *Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- To be, or not to be: that is the question: / Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them?
- [He] was qualified and fitted, both intellectually and morally, — and that to an exceptional extent — to be the Head
- "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal. I never did that . I always made up my mind I'd be a big man some day, and—I'm glad I didn't steal."
- However, the British were unable to do much about it short of going to war with St Petersburg, and that the government was unwilling to do.
- I've never seen someone beaten unconscious before. That ’s lesbians for you.
- He went home, and after that I never saw him again.
- "She is very honourable," said Mrs. Thompson, solemnly. "Yes, one sees she is that , and so simple-minded."
- the CPR course that she took really came in handy
- By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.
England Under 21 5 Iceland Under 21 0: match report, passage=His ability to run at defences is instantly striking, but it is his clever use of possession that has persuaded some shrewd judges that he is an even better prospect than Theo Walcott.}}
Welcome to the plastisphere, passage=Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.}}
Usage notes
* Some authorities prescribe that that'' should only be used in restrictive contexts (where the relative clause is part of the identification of the noun phrase) and ''which'' or ''who''/''whom'' should be used in non-restrictive contexts; in other words, they prescribe "I like the last song on the album, which John wrote". In practice, both ''that'' and ''which are found in both contexts. * In a restrictive relative clause, that'' is never used as the object of a preposition unless the preposition occurs at the end of the clause; ''which'' is used instead. Hence "this is the car I spoke of" can be rendered as "this is the car ''that'' I spoke of" or "this is the car of which I spoke", but not as *"this is the car of ''that I spoke." * That'' refers primarily to people or things; ''which'' refers primarily to things, and ''who'' refers primarily to people. Some authorities insist ''who''/''whom'' be used when making reference to people, but others, such as the ''Merriam-Webster'' dictionary, write that such prescriptions are "without foundation" and use of ''that in such positions is common and "entirely standard". Hence, one sees both "he is the man who invented the telephone" and "he is the man that invented the telephone." * When that'' (or another relative pronoun, like ''who'' or ''which ) is used as the subject of a relative clause, the verb agrees with the antecedent of the pronoun. Thus "The thing that is...", "The things that are...", etc. * In the past, bare that'' could be used, with the meaning "the thing, person, etc indicated", where modern English requires ''that which'' or ''what''. Hence the King James translation of John 3:11 is "We speak ''that'' we do know, and testify ''that'' we have seen" while the New International Version has "we speak ''of what'' we know, and we testify ''to what we have seen".Antonyms
* (that thing) here, there, this, yon, yonderDerived terms
* at thatAdverb
(-)- "The ribbon was that''' thin." "I disagree, I say it was not '''that thin, it was thicker... or maybe thinner..."
- I'm just not that sick.
- I did the run last year, and it wasn't that difficult.
- 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.
Noun
(en noun)- 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 .