Representing thinking, perceiving, liking and desiring

Using verb patterns to represent thoughts and beliefs

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Verb followed by a that clause

The verbs in this category can be followed by a that clause, which, depending on the context and the verb used, may represent an idea, an opinion or a fact .

When what is thought, believed, anticipated, etc, is related to a statement or an open question , the verb will be followed by a that clause (with the option of omitting the that):

We anticipate (that) in 24 hours or so the situation should be a lot clearer. (Bank of English)

Here are some verbs which can be followed by a that clause representing an idea:

anticipate  fantasise  imagine  suppose  assume feel know suspect believe figure presume think calculate foresee realise trust consider forget reflect understand decide gather remember wonder doubt grasp resolve dream guess see envisage hypothesise speculate

With a fact, the verb will typically be followed by a that clause (with the option of omitting the that):

I had assumed that all members of the audience would observe the law. (SCMP 2/6/94)

Here is a list of verbs representing a fact which can be followed by a that clause. (There will inevitably be some overlap with the list of verbs representing an idea or opinion.):

assume  forget  recall  understand  decide hear reflect deduce know remember find learn see

A fact can sometimes be replaced by a noun group. For example, compare the following:

Opera was rejected in the 60s because people found that it depended on human emotions, which were considered at that time embarrassing and messy.

Opera was rejected in the 60s because people found its dependence on human emotions embarrassing and messy. (Microconcord Corpus A)

For further information about the reasons why a speaker or writer might want to use the noun form, see Representing actions with nouns: Reasons for representing actions with nouns.

Introduction
Participants associated with thinking verbs
Grammatical patterns associated with thoughts
Verb followed by a that clause
Verb followed by a noun group
Verb followed by a wh-clause
Verb followed by an if/whether clause
Verb followed by the -ing form
Verb followed by an object and the -ing form
Verb followed by the to-infinitive
Verb followed by an object and the to-infinitive
Verb followed by the actual words thought
Ellipsis and substitution with thinking verbs
Present simple v present continuous tense
A note on the order of participants