At The Age That

At The Age That At The Age That At The Age That By Maeve Maddox A reader has a question about a â€Å"cute little sign† she bought: Something just isn’t right. Here’s the wording: â€Å"I am at the age that makeup is no longer optional.†    I want to replace â€Å"the age† with â€Å"that age† and change â€Å"that makeup† to â€Å"when makeup.† Any insights or suggestions? The difference between â€Å"the age† and â€Å"that age† is a matter of style, but when is the better grammatical choice than that. Both that and when can function as conjunctions, but when that is used as a conjunction, it usually introduces a noun clause: He believes that he can do no wrong. She believes that makeup is mandatory after a certain age. When is the usual choice to introduce an adverbial clause after words like age, day, and time. It’s the equivalent of the phrase â€Å"at which† or, in the case of day, â€Å"upon which†: A new study has revealed 37 to be  the age when  men are happiest. I look forward to the day when all children have an equal opportunity to access food and water that contributes to their health and well-being. Most people were at home and this was  the time when  the fewest trains were running. When that follows the words age, day, and time, it’s being used as a relative pronoun and serves as a subject or object in the clause it introduces: The right to retire with financial security  at the age that  has been promised throughout our working lives has been denied. (That stands for age and is the subject of â€Å"has been promised.†) Avondale students remember ‘a day that changed our country forever’ (That stands for day and is the subject of â€Å"changed.†) All we have to decide is what to do with  the time that  is given us. (That stands for time and is the subject of â€Å"is given†) The better wording for the reader’s sign is â€Å"I am at the age when makeup is no longer optional.† But she has hung the sign in her bathroom- an informal context, surely. I just wouldn’t give one like it as a present to an English teacher. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of Humor15 Words for Household Rooms, and Their Synonyms40 Synonyms for Praise