4

I hope this is not a double post.

Should I use "at the time" or "at that time" when I want to express something that was known during the time when the events occurred?

Bonco presents the facts known at the time about Fiolo and their interpretation by various authors.

Here I mean "at the time" as "at the moment that Bonco wrote it."

Improve this question
1
  • I would suggest that in some cases either of these would be superfluous and could be omitted. In the example you provide, Bonco could only have known the facts available "at the time" - he couldn't have known facts which would later become available.
    – Stuart Allen
    Commented May 10, 2011 at 23:49

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

Both should be equally acceptable in most contexts. In rare cases, "at that time" might cause some slight confusion if it makes it appear as though you are setting up a comparison with some other, different time ("This time? No, that time!"). Mostly, though, it's a matter of sentence flow and which one you like the best.

Improve this answer
1

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .