Dropping THAT

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Is it possible to drop/leave out/omit "that" in the sentence below?

It’s said THAT the man is a thief.

Thank you.

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@paok1970,

Any American would include the word "that" (I suspect that grammatically speaking the word isn't necessary).

But it is an idiomatic expression. The phrase "it is said that ________" is a pattern we all understand.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

The phrase "it is said that ________" is a pattern we all understand.

So is the pattern "it is said ______________".

After 'bridge' verbs like learned, discovered, found (out), knew, felt, thought, and also the more common reporting verbs, (e.g. say, tell) it is quite natural to omit 'that', especially in informal speech.

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@centrox,

Quote:

After 'bridge' verbs like learned, discovered, found (out), knew, felt, thought, and also the more common reporting verbs, (e.g. say, tell) it is quite natural to omit 'that', especially in informal speech.

Maybe it is a matter of dialect. It would sound stilted and unnatural to me if someone omitted the word "that" in informal speech.

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@maxdancona,

maxdancona wrote:

Maybe it is a matter of dialect. It would sound stilted and unnatural to me if someone omitted the word "that" in informal speech.

Really? I told my sister Tokyo was the capital of Vietnam. She said I was wrong. I said she was arrogant. She said I was 'a prick'. Our mother said we were both equally stupid.

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@maxdancona,

Quote:

Any American would include the word "that"

Stop with the generalizations. I myself might not include " that" when speaking or writing about an individual.

For example, let's say for the moment, I am speaking with someone about a particular person and I want to caution him against leaving said person alone in his home. I would most likely just tell him: 'It's been said the man is s thief.'. There'd be no reason to include "that".

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@Sturgis,

Sturgis wrote:

I would most likely just tell him: 'It's been said the man is s thief.'. There'd be no reason to include "that".

Yup. It's been said he's a liar, a cheat, a virgin, a genius, a gifted card player, Greek, from Cincinnati, a communist.

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@centrox,

A Communist?! Shocked

Telleth me now that this is not true.

Oh, wait, never mind - my grandparents were registered Communists, so it must be okay.

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@Sturgis,

Sturgis wrote:

Oh, wait, never mind - my grandparents were registered Communists, so it must be okay.

My aunt was a Wobbly, especially after she'd had a couple of stiff belts.

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Dropping THAT

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