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# Excluding 'that'

### When can you exclude 'that' from a sentence?

There are a number of instances in English where it is possible and even desirable to omit the word **that**.

* **that** as conjunction with reporting verbs (like learn, discover, find out, know, feel, etc.): \
  *I discovered (that) Jose had borrowed my scooter without my permission.*<br>
* after the more common reporting verbs, (e.g. say, tell) it is also entirely natural to omit **that** in informal speech: \
  *I told her (that) I'd be back by ten o'clock but she said she needed me here earlier.*<br>
* after certain verbs (e.g. reply, shout) **that** cannot be omitted and it is not normally dropped after nouns: \
  *The CEO informed the staff that the company was going to close.*\
  \
  Often, **that** can be removed from a sentence without affecting the overall meaning, especially when it has been used with a conditional, e.g. \
  *She told me that I could go to the party*  vs. *She told me I could go to the party*.

Sometimes, however, you can change or lose the meaning by removing **that**. For example, \
*I heard that you snore* = Person A snores, and Person B has told Person C about it, whereas\
*I heard you snore* = Person A snores and Person B has heard them doing it.

Consider whether your use of '**that**' is necessary for understanding time, object or person. If not, you can probably cut it.