“What is that?” you may ask. That is a four-letter word in the English language – Not one of those four-letter words that are gaining popularity in pop culture, but one that seems to have fallen out of fashion. Sure, people talk about this or that. That continues to enjoy usage as a pronoun. Many English speakers, however, seem to have altogether forgotten that that also has an important role as a conjunction.

For those who might have slept through grammar school, a conjunction is a word that joins phrases, clauses or sentences. For example, “Pick up some socks” can be a sentence (an imperative, to be more specific) or a clause. “I will go to the store” makes a fine declarative. If we join these to ideas together, we get: “I will go to the store pick up socks.” You may be able to discern what is meant from this Neanderthal sentence, but the two ideas are joined much more effectively with the conjunction and: “I will go to the store and pick up some socks” (You may feel that this might be better rendered “I will go to the store to pick up some socks” – but socks may not be my primary purpose in going to the store).

As for the conjunction that, I often read and hear sentences such as “I would say you have a problem.” Now, while I may be able to say all sorts of things, I cannot say you. I can say the word you but I cannot say you. I can meet you, hug you, or slap you, but I cannot say you. This is where that lovely little conjunction that comes in handy. It joins the two ideas of something I would (or could) say, and my opinion or observation that you have a problem: “I would say that you have a problem.” I think that this latter rendering sounds much better. You might even say that I think that that sounds much better – at least I hope that you would.