"That Said" / "Having Said That" for Concessive Transitions
5 exercises — practise pivoting to a caveat with "that said" and "having said that".
0 / 15 completed
1 / 15
Which sentence correctly uses "that said" as a standalone comment clause, set off by commas, to pivot to a qualifying point?
"That said, the migration itself took three full sprints" correctly uses the fixed comment clause "that said" followed by a comma. Option B wrongly inserts "is". Option C reverses the word order. Option D wrongly duplicates "that".
2 / 15
Which sentence correctly uses the fuller variant "having said that" in place of "that said"?
"Having said that, their documentation still needs work" correctly uses the participle "having" plus "said that" in standard order. Option B wrongly inserts "this". Option C wrongly uses the bare present "have" instead of the participle "having". Option D wrongly reorders "that" and "said".
3 / 15
Which sentence correctly uses "that said" mid-paragraph to concede a strength before raising a caveat, without needing a preceding "although"?
"The dashboard loads instantly for most users; that said, users on slow connections still report timeouts" correctly uses "that said" on its own as a complete concessive transition. Option B redundantly adds "although" alongside it. Option C wrongly appends "although" after the fixed phrase. Option D wrongly combines it with "despite".
4 / 15
Which sentence correctly distinguishes "that said" (pivoting to a caveat) from "all things considered" (summarizing a final verdict), using each in its proper context?
"That said, it introduced two new configuration steps for operators" correctly uses "that said" to introduce a specific caveat right after praise, which is its natural function. Option B misuses "all things considered", a phrase for final overall verdicts, for a single specific caveat. Option C redundantly stacks both phrases. Option D scrambles "all things considered".
5 / 15
Which sentence correctly opens a new paragraph with "that said" to transition back to a limitation after an extended list of benefits?
"That said, none of these benefits apply if the team skips the required onboarding step" correctly opens with the standard fixed form. Option B reverses the word order. Option C wrongly inserts "being" and duplicates "that". Option D wrongly appends "so".
6 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The authentication flow is very robust and secure. It utilizes bcrypt for password hashing and implements rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks.' That said, the lack of input validation could still expose us to injection vulnerabilities.
'That said' is perfect here to smoothly transition from praising the robust authentication flow to pointing out a potential weakness. Using 'Having said that' would also work but isn't as concise in this context. Option A misinterprets its function; it introduces a qualification, not simply repeats it. Option D suggests an inappropriate alternative phrasing for a code review.
7 / 15
Slack Message: 'I've optimized the database queries significantly, reducing latency by approximately 30%. That said, we need to monitor resource utilization closely after deployment to ensure sustained performance.'
'That said' is suitable in Slack to acknowledge a positive result (optimized queries) and immediately introduce a necessary caution (monitoring resource usage). Option A incorrectly suggests formality; Slack messages often benefit from concise phrasing. Option B misses the core function of the transition word. Option D is not practical advice for a developer.
8 / 15
PR Description: 'This PR implements a new API endpoint for user profile retrieval. It returns JSON data with all relevant fields, including name, email, and address. That said, the current implementation doesn't handle pagination, so retrieving large numbers of profiles will be slow.'
'That said' is ideal in this scenario because it acknowledges the successful implementation of the profile retrieval API (JSON data) and then introduces a critical limitation—the lack of pagination. Option A suggests an unnecessary level of formality. Option B incorrectly assumes a requirement that wasn't present. Option D misrepresents the purpose of a PR description.
9 / 15
Standup Update: 'We've made significant progress on the frontend UI, adding several new components and improving the user experience. That said, we're still facing challenges with integrating it fully into the backend system.'
'That said' is a natural and efficient way to acknowledge the positive frontend work while immediately raising the issue of backend integration challenges – typical of a standup update. Option A exaggerates the verbosity; it's a concise statement. Option B suggests an alternative that isn't as direct. Option D avoids addressing a critical problem.
10 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The caching mechanism significantly improves response times for frequently accessed data. It's implemented using Redis and provides a substantial reduction in database load. That said, we need to ensure the cache invalidation strategy is robust enough to handle concurrent updates.'
'That said' is appropriate here to acknowledge the positive impact of the Redis caching (improved response times and reduced database load) before raising a crucial concern: the cache invalidation strategy. This highlights a potential area for further attention and ensures thorough testing. Option A incorrectly assumes increased complexity warrants a different transition word.
11 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The authentication flow is very robust and secure. It utilizes bcrypt for password hashing and implements rate limiting to prevent brute force attacks.' That said, the lack of input validation could still expose us to injection vulnerabilities.
'That said' is perfect here to smoothly transition from praising the robust authentication flow to pointing out a potential weakness. Using 'Having said that' would also work but isn't as concise in this context. Option A misinterprets its function; it introduces a qualification, not simply repeats it. Option D suggests an inappropriate alternative phrasing for a code review.
12 / 15
Slack Message: 'I've optimized the database queries significantly, reducing latency by approximately 30%. That said, we need to monitor resource utilization closely after deployment to ensure sustained performance.'
'That said' is suitable in Slack to acknowledge a positive result (optimized queries) and immediately introduce a necessary caution (monitoring resource usage). Option A incorrectly suggests formality; Slack messages often benefit from concise phrasing. Option B misses the core function of the transition word. Option D is not practical advice for a developer.
13 / 15
PR Description: 'This PR implements a new API endpoint for user profile retrieval. It returns JSON data with all relevant fields, including name, email, and address. That said, the current implementation doesn't handle pagination, so retrieving large numbers of profiles will be slow.'
'That said' is ideal in this scenario because it acknowledges the successful implementation of the profile retrieval API (JSON data) and then introduces a critical limitation—the lack of pagination. Option A suggests an unnecessary level of formality. Option B incorrectly assumes a requirement that wasn't present. Option D misrepresents the purpose of a PR description.
14 / 15
Standup Update: 'We've made significant progress on the frontend UI, adding several new components and improving the user experience. That said, we're still facing challenges with integrating it fully into the backend system.'
'That said' is a natural and efficient way to acknowledge the positive frontend work while immediately raising the issue of backend integration challenges – typical of a standup update. Option A exaggerates the verbosity; it's a concise statement. Option B suggests an alternative that isn't as direct. Option D avoids addressing a critical problem.
15 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The caching mechanism significantly improves response times for frequently accessed data. It's implemented using Redis and provides a substantial reduction in database load. That said, we need to ensure the cache invalidation strategy is robust enough to handle concurrent updates.'
'That said' is appropriate here to acknowledge the positive impact of the Redis caching (improved response times and reduced database load) before raising a crucial concern: the cache invalidation strategy. This highlights a potential area for further attention and ensures thorough testing. Option A incorrectly assumes increased complexity warrants a different transition word.
What will I practise in ""That Said" / "Having Said That" for Concessive Transitions — IT Grammar Exercise"?
Practise using the comment clauses "that said" and "having said that" to pivot from a positive statement to a qualifying caveat, distinct from "however"
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 15 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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