Thanks

There are many persons who think it in questionable taste to use thanks for thank you . That. The best writers often appear to grope after a separate employment for the several relatives. "' That ' is the proper restrictive, explicative, limiting, or defining relative . "' That ,' the neuter of the definite article, was early in use as a neuter relative. All the other oldest relatives gradually dropt away, and 'that' came to be applied also to plural antecedents, and to masculines and feminines. When 'as,' 'which,' and 'who' came forward to share the work of 'that,' there seems to have arisen not a little uncertainty about the relatives, and we find curious double forms: 'whom that,' 'which that,' 'which as,' etc. Gower has, 'Venus whose priest that I am'; Chaucer writes—'This Abbot which that was an holy man,' 'his love the which that he oweth.' By the Elizabeth an period, these double forms have disappeared, and all the relatives are used singly without hesitation. From then till now, 'that' has been struggling with 'who' and 'which' to regain superior favor, with varying succe . 'Who' is used for persons, 'which' for things, in both numbers; so is 'that'; and the only opportunity of a special application of 'that' lies in the important distinction between coördination and restriction. Now, as 'who' and 'which' are most commonly preferred for coördination, it would be a clear gain to confine them to this sense, and to reserve 'that' for the restrictive application alone. This arrangement, then, would fall in with the most general use of 'that,' especially beyond the limits of formal composition . "The use of 'that' solely as restrictive, with 'who' and 'which' solely as coördinating, also avoids ambiguities that often attend the indiscriminate use of 'who' and 'which' for coördinate and for restrictive clauses. Thus, when we say, 'his conduct surprised his English friends, who had not known him long,' we may mean either that his English friends generally were surprised (the relative being, in that case, coördinating ), or that only a portion of them—namely, the particular portion that had not known him long—were surprised. In this last case the relative is meant to define or explain the antecedent, and the doubt would be removed by writing thus: 'his English friends that had not known him long.' So in the following sentence there is a similar ambiguity in the use of 'which': 'the next winter which you will spend in town will give you opportunities of making a more prudent choice.' This may mean, either 'you will spend next winter in town' ('which' being coördinating), or 'the next of the winters when you are to live in town,' let that come when it may. In the former case, 'which' is the proper relative; in the latter case, the meaning is restrictive or defining, and would be best brought out by 'that': 'the next winter that you will spend in town.' "A further consideration in favor of employing 'that' for explicative clauses is the unpleasant effect arising from the too frequent repetition of 'who' and 'which.' Grammarians often recommend 'that' as a means of varying the style; but this end ought to be sought in subservience to the still greater end of perspicuity. "The following examples will serve further to illustrate the distinction between that , on the one hand, and who and which , on the other: "'In general, Mr. Burchell was fondest of the company of children, whom he used to call harmle little men.' 'Whom' is here idiomatically used, being the equivalent of ' and them he used to call,' etc. "'Bacon at last, a mighty man, arose, Whom a wise king and nation chose Lord Chancellor of both their laws.' Here, also, 'whom' is equal to 'and him.' "In the following instance the relative is restrictive or defining, and 'that' would be preferable: 'the conclusion of the "Iliad" is like the exit of a great man out of company whom he has entertained magnificently.' Compare another of Add is on's sentences: 'a man of polite imagination is let into a great many pleasures that the vulgar are not capable of receiving.' "Both relatives are introduced discriminatingly in this pa age:—'She had learned that from Mrs. Wood, who had heard it from her husband, who had heard it at the public-house from the landlord, who had been let into the secret by the boy that carried the beer to some of the prisoners.' "The following sentences are ambiguous under the modern system of using 'who' for both purposes:—'I met the boatman who took me acro the ferry.' If 'who' is the proper relative here, the meaning is, 'I met the boatman, and he took me acro ,' it being supposed that the boatman is known and definite. But if there be several boatmen, and I wish to indicate one in particular by the circumstance that he had taken me acro the ferry, I should use 'that.' 'The youngest boy who has learned to dance is James.' This means either 'the youngest boy is James, and he has learned to dance,' or, 'of the boys, the youngest that has learned to dance is James.' This last sense is restrictive, and 'that' should be used. "Turning now to 'which,' we may have a series of parallel examples. 'The court, which gives currency to manners, should be exemplary': here the meaning is 'the court should be exemplary, for the court gives currency to manners.' 'Which' is the idiomatic relative in this case. 'The cat, which you despise so much, is a very useful animal.' The relative here also is coördinating, and not restrictive. If it were intended to point out one individual cat specially despised by the person addre ed, 'that' would convey the sense. 'A theory which does not tend to the improvement of practice is utterly unworthy of regard.' The meaning is restrictive; 'a theory that does not tend.' The following sentence is one of many from Goldsmith that give 'that' instead of 'which':—'Age, that le ens the enjoyment of life, increases our desire of living.' Thackeray also was fond of this usage. But it is not very common. "'Their faith tended to make them improvident; but a wise instinct taught them that if there was one thing which ought not to be left to fate, or to the precepts of a deceased prophet, it was the artillery'; a case where 'that' is the proper relative. "'All words, which are signs of complex ideas, furnish matter of mistake.' This gives an erroneous impre ion, and should be 'all words that are signs of complex ideas.' "'In all cases of prescription, the universal practice of judges is to direct juries by analogy to the Statute of Limitations, to decide against incorporeal rights which have for many years been relinquished': say instead, 'incorporeal rights that have for many years,' and the sense is clear. "It is nece ary for the proper understanding of 'which' to advert to its peculiar function of referring to a whole clause as the antecedent: 'William ran along the top of the wall, which alarmed his mother very much.' The antecedent is obviously not the noun 'wall,' but the fact expre ed by the entire clause—'William ran,' etc. 'He by no means wants sense, which only serves to aggravate his former folly'; namely, (not 'sense,' but) the circumstance 'that he does not want sense.' 'He is neither over-exalted by prosperity, nor too much depre ed by misfortune; which you must allow marks a great mind.' 'We have done many things which we ought not to have done,' might mean 'we ought not to have done many things '; that is, 'we ought to have done few things.' 'That' would give the exact sense intended: 'we have done many things that we ought not to have done.' 'He began to look after his affairs himself, which was the way to make them prosper.' "We must next allude to the cases where the relative is governed by a preposition. We can use a preposition before 'who' and 'which,' but when the relative is 'that,' the preposition must be thrown to the end of the clause. Owing to an imperfect appreciation of the genius of our language, offense was taken at this usage by some of our leading writers at the beginning of last century, and to this circumstance we must refer the disuse of 'that' as the relative of restriction. [38] "'It is curious that the only circumstance connected with Scott, and related by Lockhart, of which I was a witne , is incorrectly stated in the "Life of Sir Walter."'—Leslie's 'Memoirs.' The relative should be restrictive: ' that I was a witne of .' "'There are many words which are adjectives which have nothing to do with the qualities of the nouns to which they are put.'—Cobbett. Better: 'there are many words that are adjectives that have nothing to do with the qualities of the nouns ( that ) they are put to .' "'Other objects, of which we have not occasion to speak so frequently, we do not designate by a name of their own.' This, if amended, would be: 'other objects that we have not occasion to speak of so frequently, we do not,' etc. "'Sorrow for the dead is the only sorrow from which we refuse to be divorced': 'the only sorrow ( that ) we refuse to be divorced from .' "'Why, there is not a single sentence in this play that I do not know the meaning of .'—Add is on. "'Originality is a thing we constantly clamor for , and constantly quarrel with .'—Carlyle. "'A spirit more amiable, but le vigorous, than Luther's would have shrunk back from the dangers which he braved and surmounted': ' that he braved'; 'the dangers braved and surmounted by him.' "'Nor is it at all improbable that the emigrants had been guilty of those faults from which civilized men who settle among an uncivilized people are rarely free.'—Macaulay. 'Nor is it at all improbable that the emigrants had been guilty of the faults that ( such faults as ) civilized men that settle ( settling , or settled ) among an uncivilized people are rarely free from .' "'Prejudices are notions or opinions which the mind entertains without knowing the grounds and reasons of them, and which are a ented to without examination.'—Berkeley. The 'which' in both cases should be 'that,' but the relative may be entirely dispensed with by participial conversion: 'prejudices are notions or opinions entertained by the mind without knowing the grounds and reasons of them, and a ented to without examination.' "The too frequent repetition of 'who' and 'which' may be avoided by resolving them into the conjunction and personal or other pronoun: 'In such circumstances, the utmost that Bosquet could be expected to do was to hold his ground, ( which ) and this he did.'"—Bain's "Higher English Grammar." This word is sometimes vulgarly used for so ; thus, "I was that nervous I forgot everything"; "I was that frightened I could hardly stand." The. Bungling writers sometimes write sheer nonsense, or say something very different from what they have in their minds, by the simple omi ion of the definite article; thus, "The indebtedne of the English tongue to the French, Latin and Greek is disclosed in almost every sentence framed." According to this, there is such a thing as a French, Latin and Greek tongue. Profe or Town send meant to say: "The indebtedne of the English tongue to the French, the Latin, and the Greek," etc.