I have a question about a sentence from a school English test.
It is believed the hamburger was invented in a small town in Texas.
This sentence was given on the exam, and my English teacher said it is wrong because of the omission of the conjunction “that”. However, as far as I know, “that” can be omitted in this case, so I would like to ask about this sentence.
- Is this sentence grammatically correct?
- Is the omission of “that” allowed in this case?
I would appreciate it if you could answer this question.
The sentence is correct, and that is not obligatory for an extraposed declarative content clause subject (where it is in subject position and an unmarked declarative finite clause that it points to appears at the end of the clause).
On principle, grammars like The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language say that this is acceptable with a few exceptions (see references below), while also noting that "the default case is the one where that is present as a marker of the subordinate status of
the clause" and that "[d]epartures from this default case, declaratives without that, are more likely
in informal than in formal style."
And checking actual usage, in the News on the Web Corpus, there are 2632 hits for a sentence starting with It is believed that the and 685 for It is believed the, which does indicate that the construction with that is more common, but the examples below from well-respected organizations should suffice to prove the correctness of the version without that.
It is believed the mercurial Kim Jong-un has executed or purged a slew of high-level officials, including several relatives, since
taking power in 2011. (NY Post)
The U.S. official said the intelligence community has been informed
that secret information had been contained in some of Mrs. Clinton's
private emails that originated from the FBI, the DNI and the CIA as
well as a spy satellite agency. It is believed the 30,000 emails
remain on a thumb drive in the possession of Mrs. Clinton's private
attorney, David Kendall. (Washington Times)
It is believed the total number on waiting lists nationwide could be
nearer 200,000 because the survey did not include another estimated
150,000 plots owned by parish and town councils, other public bodies
or private allotment associations. (Telegraph)
It is believed the heavy rain had caused the river levels to rise and
partially submerged the track, reports the BBC. (Time)
(The Cambridge Grammar of the Enlgish Language p952)
Conditions under which that is obligatory
(a) When the content clause is subject or otherwise precedes the
matrix predicator
3
i [That they were lying] is now quite obvious.
ii But [that he really intended to cheat us] I still can’t
believe.
Compare these with It is now quite obvious [(that)they were
lying], where the content clause is in extraposed subject position,
and But I still can’t believe [(that) he really intended
to cheat us], where it is in post-verbal complement position. What distinguishes 3 from these is that in 3 that is needed to signal
the start of a subordinate clause: if [i] began with They were lying
this would be perceived initially as a main clause, whereas in the
extraposed subject construction the matrix It is now quite obvious
prepares the ground for a subordinate clause, and the marker of
subordination does not therefore have the essential role that it does
in [i]. The same applies in [ii], where we have a further contrast
between [ii] itself and He really intended to cheat us, I believe.
The absence of that in the latter indicates that he really intended
to cheat us is indeed a main clause, and I believe is a
parenthetical: we have here two main clauses in a supplementation
relation, not one clause subordinated within another, as in 3.
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language does have a note on p1050 about when the that should not be omitted. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language makes a similar note on p953-954 but this one is more to the point.
(i) to clarify whether an adverbial belongs to the matrix clause or
the that-clause:
- They told us once again that the situation was serious.
- They told us that once again the situation was serious.
(ii) to prevent a coordinated that-clause from being misinterpreted as
a coordinated main clause (cf 14.41):
I realise that I'm in charge and that everybody accepts my leadership.
I realize that I'm in charge, and everybody accepts my leadership.
An example from The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language of the coordination distinction with an extraposed subject.
It was possible [that she was ill and that her mother had gone to see her].
It was possible [that she was ill], and her mother had gone to see her.
...the repetition of that makes clear that the coordination is
between subordinate clauses: without the second that the second
coordinate (her mother had gone to see her) could be construed as a
main clause, and hence as being presented as a fact rather than a
possibility.
