- Feb 22, 2007
- 23
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I've got a super hot, non-native Engrish speaker sitting here studying for her GMAT while I'm translating her application essay questions into proper Engrish. She starts asking me why and when we use "that" in the context of: Most IRS representative find that people are initially willing to cooperate.
Why do we need the word "that" in the sentence? Why is this not correct: Most IRS representative find people are initially willing to cooperate.
I had high school grammar, and I never looked back. I read a lot, so I'm mostly knowing what's right based on experience and not based on formal grammar rules. I did figure out this little pattern, though...
All of these are okay:
I fear bats.
I fear bats flying.
I fear bats flying up my nose.
In these cases, though, you need to use the word "that":
I fear that bats will fly up my nose.
I fear that a bat is flying up my nose.
I fear that bats are flying up my nose.
It seems that the word "is", "are" and "will" are forcing the use of the word "that". Is this right??
Why do we need the word "that" in the sentence? Why is this not correct: Most IRS representative find people are initially willing to cooperate.
I had high school grammar, and I never looked back. I read a lot, so I'm mostly knowing what's right based on experience and not based on formal grammar rules. I did figure out this little pattern, though...
All of these are okay:
I fear bats.
I fear bats flying.
I fear bats flying up my nose.
In these cases, though, you need to use the word "that":
I fear that bats will fly up my nose.
I fear that a bat is flying up my nose.
I fear that bats are flying up my nose.
It seems that the word "is", "are" and "will" are forcing the use of the word "that". Is this right??