# that's

Pronunciation: say "THATS" /ðæts/

## Contraction

1. A contraction of 'that is', joining the word 'that' to the verb 'is'.
   - Simple: A short way of saying or writing 'that is'.
   - _That's the reason the meeting was postponed._
   - _Everyone agrees that's a fair compromise._
2. A contraction of 'that has', joining 'that' to the helping verb 'has'.
   - Simple: A short way of saying 'that has', often before words like 'been' or 'got'.
   - _That's caused more trouble than anyone expected._
   - _That's never happened in all my years here._
3. A contraction of 'that was', joining 'that' to the past-tense verb 'was'.
   - Simple: A short way of saying 'that was' when talking about the past.
   - _That's some party last weekend; the neighbors are still talking about it._
   - _That's a long drive yesterday, but we pulled into the motel just before midnight._

## Determiner

4. A relative possessive linking a non-human thing to a following noun, filling the role that standard English gives to 'whose'. *(Northern Ireland)*
   - Simple: Used like 'whose', but for things rather than people.
   - _The factory that's chimney collapsed has been demolished._
   - _He repaired the gate that's hinges had rusted through._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3** — Formed from "that" plus "'s," a contraction of words ending in s (such as "is" or "has").
**Meaning 4** — Formed from "that" plus the possessive marker "-'s."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/that-s (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).