Overuse of "that"

Many times, we overuse the word “that” in our writing. Check out the two paragraphs below. The first one uses the word “that”. The second removes the unnecessary uses of “that”.

BEFORE

I’ve started using Akismet for spam filtering and it’s been working great! I used to thinkthat it could only be used on a wordpress.com blog or by paying but, after playing around with it, I realized that it was only necessary to sign up for a wordpress.com account to get the key that could be used on any site.

AFTER

I’ve started using Akismet for spam filtering and it’s been working great! I used to think it could only be used on a wordpress.com blog or by paying but, after playing around with it, I realized it was only necessary to sign up for a wordpress.com account to get the key which could be used on any site. Let me know if any false-positives occur.

When “That” is NEEDED

All modern word processors have a Find featurethat you can use to quickly find all examples of a particular word or phrase.

The word “that” serves a purpose in this sentence. The sentence would be grammatically flawed without it.

But in a sentence like the one below, the sentence works without it:

Gloria was younger and flashier than either of the women that Lawrence had previously dated.

Gloria was younger and flashier than either of the women Lawrence had previously dated.

Because we overuse the word in our every day conversations, this may be tricky at first. Some sentences may seem weird when you first removed the word “that”. Make sure you stop to ask yourself if the sentence truly NEEDS “that” or not.

click here for help with THAT vs WHICH

More Resources:

• Do you use the word “that” too much?

• “That That” By Jodi Cleghorn

• “That” Overuse” by Luke Horesten