Tuesday, 22 September 2015

grammar - Usage of "that"

They are both correct, but the meaning is subtly different. In the first sentence, the speaker is indicated that "she" has indicated in some way that they won't come. In the second sentence, the speaker is indicating that "she" said something close to the specific words "they won't come".



I say "something close" because the margin of error for that indication generally includes personal pronouns, e.g., when I say




She said they won't come




What I really mean is




She said "we won't come"




The usage of "that" indicates that you're about to paraphrase the message, while its absence indicates that you're sticking more closely to the precise words.

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