Hi Mr Paul,

Could you please explain the rules governing “that” clauses in a sentence (verbs or other words which attract a “that” clause, and which don’t)?

That- clauses (properly called content clauses) are the default kind of finite subordinate clause. They stand in contrast to the other kinds (relative and comparative), and can function as complement of a verb, noun, adjective, or preposition:

I realise that you feel insulted. (comp of verb 'realise')
She informed me that she had been insulted. (comp of verb 'informed')
The problem is that we just can't afford it. (comp of verb 'is')
You can't ignore the fact that he was drunk. (comp on noun 'fact')
I'm glad that you could come. (comp of adjective 'glad')
You can go provided that you are careful. (comp of preposition 'provided')

There are too many verbs to list here, so those below are just a selection. I've also listed a selection from the other word categories that permit that- clauses as complement:

Verbs: accept, admit, add, agree, allege, announce, assert, be, boast, brag, care, claim, complain, confess, confirm, consider, contend, decide, declare, disclose, dispute, fear, feel, find, forget, gather, guess, hope, imagine, inform, insist, know, learn, maintain, notice, presume, prove, realise, reason, reflect, rejoice, reply, suggest, suppose, suspect, think, threaten, vote, wonder, worry.

Nouns: admission, agreement, argument, assertion, awareness, belief, boast, certainty, chance, claim, complaint, conclusion, confidence, danger, discovery, eagerness, evidence, expectation, fact, faith, feeling, guess, hope, idea, implication, impression, inference, knowledge, likelihood, message, news, objection, odds, opinion, possibility, principle, probability, promise, proof, proposal, proposition, prospect, revelation, rumour, saying, sign, sorrow, statement, story, suggestion, thought, tradition, view, warning, willingness, worry.

Adjectives: afraid, amazed, amused, angry, annoyed, aware, certain, confident, conscious, determined, disgusted, distressed, disturbed, eager, essential, fearful, glad, grateful, happy, hopeful, irritated, pleased, positive, proud, sad, sorry, sure, surprised, thankful, upset, worried.

Prepositions: considering, except, given, granted, in, notwithstanding, now, provided, providing, save, so, supposing.



PaulM

Thank you so much.

As I was told, the word "appreciated" cannot be used with a that-clause. Is that true? If so, could you please list me a few such words?

Here are a few verbs that don't normally take a that- clause as complement:

appoint, attempt, behave, bribe, chew, discipline, dislike, eat, enjoy, grow, hate, hesitate, incite, hunt, itch, keep, look, miss, prod, provoke, run, scorn, solve, strain, tempt, tend, use, want, watch, will

"Appreciate" can be used with that- clauses in certain constructions, but not in the ones you originally used. It's okay in "I appreciate that you cannot meet the deadline".