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Diamondrg Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
verb + (that) / if - whether
Hi, everybody,
Is there a special rule or explanation as to the use of “that”, “whether / if” or "who/what/where etc) with verbs? For example, my dictionary (Longman) lists “deny that”, but not “deny if / whether”, but NYTimes yields the following results:
"deny that" 4.740
“deny whether” 81
“deny if” 12
"deny that" site:ac.uk 67.800
"deny if" site:ac.uk 139
"deny whether" site:ac.uk 75
... can't confirm or deny if we have received any subpoenas ...
... neither confirm nor deny whether a matter is under investigation ..
The same thing is true of "confirm if / whether".
... who would occasionally confirm whether their relatives were alive, ...
... been able to confirm whether he had killed the mayor ...
Is there a special rule or explanation as to the use of “that”, “whether / if” or "who/what/where etc) with verbs? For example, my dictionary (Longman) lists “deny that”, but not “deny if / whether”, but NYTimes yields the following results:
"deny that" 4.740
“deny whether” 81
“deny if” 12
"deny that" site:ac.uk 67.800
"deny if" site:ac.uk 139
"deny whether" site:ac.uk 75
... can't confirm or deny if we have received any subpoenas ...
... neither confirm nor deny whether a matter is under investigation ..
The same thing is true of "confirm if / whether".
... who would occasionally confirm whether their relatives were alive, ...
... been able to confirm whether he had killed the mayor ...
Top answer
Hello Diamond According to my E-J dictionary, "deny" can be followed by a <that> clauses but not by a <WH-word> clause. On the other hand, "confirm" can take both <that> and <WH-word> clauses as its object. com are actually preceded by "confirm" like "confirm or deny whether" or "confirm nor deny whether".
- Hello Diamond According to my E-J dictionary, "deny" can be followed by a <that> clauses but not by a <WH-word> clause.
- On the other hand, "confirm" can take both <that> and <WH-word> clauses as its object.
- com are actually preceded by "confirm" like "confirm or deny whether" or "confirm nor deny whether".
- The independent use of "deny whether" per se seems very rare.
- paco
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1 Answers
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Hello Diamond
According to my E-J dictionary, "deny" can be followed by a <that> clauses but not by a <WH-word> clause. On the other hand, "confirm" can take both <that> and <WH-word> clauses as its object.
As far as I checked, most of "deny whether" in nytimes.com are actually preceded by "confirm" like "confirm or deny whether" or "confirm nor deny wh
According to my E-J dictionary, "deny" can be followed by a <that> clauses but not by a <WH-word> clause. On the other hand, "confirm" can take both <that> and <WH-word> clauses as its object.
As far as I checked, most of "deny whether" in nytimes.com are actually preceded by "confirm" like "confirm or deny whether" or "confirm nor deny wh
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