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#1. No one asked that Tom's car cost a lot of money.#2. The doctor asked me that I had taken all the prescribed medicines.#3. The manager asked that they had advertised the concert.Can we use "that" in these sentences or can't?Can you tell me after which verbs we cannot use "that".I know only 3 verbs: wonder, want to know, would like to know.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

AruzCan we use "that" in these sentences or can't?

No.

AruzCan you tell me after which verbs we cannot use "that".I know only 3 verbs: wonder, want to know, would like to know.

Many verbs can be followed by dependent clauses; the problems with your sentences are misconstruction. These are OK:

#1. No one asked whether Tom's car cost a lot of money.
#2. The doctor asked me if I had taken all the prescribed medicines.
#3. The manager asked if they had advertised the concert.

#4. No one asked that Tom buy a car.

#5 The doctor asked that I take all the medicine.

#6. The manager asked that they advertise the concert.

CalifJim · Answer

AruzCan you tell me after which verbs we cannot use "that".

I do not think there is any list that contains that information. That would not contain anything very useful about learning English. If someone is leading you in the direction of finding which verbs use 'that' and which verbs do not, they are leading you in the wrong direction. It is more a matter of the meanings of verbs and their complements. If you understand the meanings, you don't need a list.

Some expressions (not necessarily verbs) take clauses with interrogative polarity (i.e., indirect questions) as complements when they are used with certain meanings.

They asked me why they needed to wait there.
(Why do we need to wait there?)
They could not remember when the concert began.
(When does the concert begin?)
They explained how we should clean the clothes.
(How should we clean the clothes?)
They did not say if the boss had returned.
They did not say whether the boss had returned.
(Did the boss return?) ["if" or "whether" is used if it is a 'yes-no' question.]

Some expressions take clauses with declarative polarity as complements.

They claimed that their father was ill.
They said that the manager was ready.
They decided that they should wait another 15 minutes.

Many expressions can take both kinds of complements.

They did not remember where they had put the keys.
They remembered that they had read that book last year.

They did not tell us when the train would arrive.
They told us that the train would arrive at 10 am.

It is worth noting that in many cases, the affirmative takes 'that', and the negative take 'if' or a question word.

Aruz#1. No one asked that Tom's car cost a lot of money.#2. The doctor asked me that I had taken all the prescribed medicines.#3. The manager asked that they had advertised the concert.Can we use "that" in these sentences or can't?

No. We can't. When 'ask' is a request for information, it can't take 'that'. Use 'if' when the information is in the form of a 'yes' or 'no'.

#1. No one asked if Tom's car cost a lot of money.
Did Tom's car cost a lot of money?  Yes or no?
#2. The doctor asked me if I had taken all the prescribed medicines.
Have you taken all the prescribed medicines?  Yes or no?
#3. The manager asked if they had advertised the concert.
Had they advertised the concert?  Yes or no?

When 'ask' is a request for someone to do something, as when you ask a favor, it can take 'that'.

The authorities asked that we leave immediately.
He asked that we remain quiet in the library.
We ask that you refrain from smoking here.

As you can see from the discussion above, this is not a simple matter that can be solved by saying that some verbs take 'that' and some verbs do not take 'that'. It's much more complicated than that.

CJ

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