MGMAT SC say that one should keep the "that" after

I think, someone will come fwd to explain this.

The newest ed of the MGMAT SC guide clarifies this. Reporting verbs must be followed with THAT.

Good discussion here...thanks for bringing up this issue. The first thing to explain here is what a "reporting verb" is. Essentially, it's a verb that reports or otherwise includes a thought or belief. Examples of "reporting verbs" are indicate, claim, announce, or report.

When you are reporting a clause (includes a verb), you need "that":

"The students reported that they felt great."
"The lab results indicate that your theory is correct."
"The King claimed that he had turned lead into gold."

When you don't have a verb following the word, you don't need "that":

"I reported my friend for cheating."
"I indicated disbelief."
"The defendant claimed innocence despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary."

Does this help clear up the issue?

Thanks BKimball. Yes, you made it clear. Thanks again!

Let me post something which may be helpful with respect to usage of THAT

When to Omit “that”

•You can omit “that” in a relative clause when the subject of the clause is different from the word or phrase the clause refers to.
Thus, you can say either
The book that I was reading (or)
The book I was reading

•You can also omit “that” when it introduces a subordinate clause
Ex: I think we should try again.

•You should NOT omit “that”, however, when the subordinate clause begins with an adverbial phrase or anything other than the subject:
Ex: She said that under no circumstances would she allow us to skip the meeting.
The book argues that eventually the housing supply will increase.
This last sentence would be ambiguous if that were omitted, since the adverb eventually could then be construed as modifying either argues or will increase.

When you don't have a verb following the WORD, you don't need "that"

Which word this term WORD refer to ?
Do you mean the verb in above sentence as a fresh verb once reporting word is used ?

Do you need "that" following the verb "say"?

- He says that he feels great.
- He says he feels great.

Can both be correct?

Do you need "that" after "says"?

Nicole wrote


As far as I see, when 'that' is a relative pronoun prefaced by a noun that it touches and acts as the subject of the relative clause that follows, then one cannot dispense with the connector.

On the contrary, when a verb is preceded by the connector 'that', the following clause is just a part of the predicate and perhaps an object. In such cases, there is no need to carry the connector.

In the given cases, I feel that there is no noun before the word. Thereof, one can dispense with it or if you do not mind verbosity, you may keep it. However, I would rather prefer to dispense with it

Hello Daagh, though I have understood what you meant there, but according to BKimball 's explanation, usage of "that" is a must as we are reporting a clause.
He says that He Feels Great.

Can you explain this a bit more? Is it a hard and fast rule?

Kind Regards!

Hi aalekhoza, I would consider the usage of that more a matter of preference than necessity.

For example, following is a correct official question:

Trans World Entertainment Corporation, which owns the Record Town and Saturday Matinee retail chains, announced it was closing up to one fourth of its stores because of poor sales.

Notice that the reporting verb (announced) is not followed by that.