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When we had Depression Cookies professionally edited, our editor hated that and told us to get rid of it as much as possible (he felt the same way about just). So, I started noticing thats everywhere. They started annoying me.
Then, I had a lovely lady write a guest post for me last year who loved that. She asked me to please edit her piece. Her post was that-heavy, so I got rid of most of them. When I sent the piece back to her for review, she requested I put all the thats back in. She said her English Professor in her Masters program reprimanded her for taking out all the thats.
So, which is it?!
Example A: She is glad she kept her distance.
Example B: She is glad that she kept her distance.
I prefer A. Without the that, it seems stronger to me. But am I missing something?
Please share your that theories.
6 comments:
I'm just as curious to get an answer, as I am a non-native English speaker.
How I do it: I use both constructions...! depending on the context, on the rhythm and musicality of the phrase. But this, of course, is a personal choice, not a rule.
I'm like you Tia, I prefer without "that" and try to take them out unless they are absolutely necessary.
REMOVE THEM ALL (or as many as possible). That is a filler word like just. When in doubt, leave it out. You were correct in removing them. WRITE ON!
I still need to decide if I want to edit my NaNoWriMo novel and see where that (I mean it) takes me. If I do, task one will be: take out "that", "just" and "very". I wish the rest of the editing process would be as easy.
That's (he he) what I thought, but the one lady had me wondering. Thanks everyone for your thoughts.
I find, in general, the "thats" are not necessary. But sometimes the sentence seems a bit...directionless without it. It's a by-the-episode thing.
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