Is it necessery to have 'that'

[sonu_gmat]

For SC's having following structures

......predicted that.....
......decided that...... etc,

Can we eliminate ans choices which do not have 'that'. In other words is 'that' mandatory.

[JonathanSchneider]

The word "that" is not mandatory, but it is very helpful, especially when we are "predicting" or "deciding" something complex that requires a full clause to explain.

For example, we can say: "I predicted the outcome of the game." Here, we are just creating a direct object (the outcome) for the verb (predicted).

However, it is awkward to say: "I predicted the Hoyas to win the game." This is because we are inserting an action here (to win). As a result, it would be clearer to say: "I predicted that the Hoyas would win the game." So, use the "that" when you need to express something complex that requires a new action word.

As for "decided," you can say: "I decided to go to the store." Here, although there is a new action (to go), it is being done by the same subject (I) and at the same time. Thus, we do not need the "that." However, if we wanted to say, "I decided that I would go to the store," or "I decided that they ought to go to the store," we would want the "that" to handle these more complex ideas.