That Clause vs. Direct

[rustom.hakimiyan]

Hi,

I'm a little confused on the usage of "that". Just when I think that I understand the usage, I get a question where the logic goes out the window. I have a few examples below that might help clairfy my question.

So from what I know -- a "that" is followed by a clause. But in certain situations, I don't understand why we skip the "that" part and go directly to the intended meaning.

Example 1:
1) Persuade Jon to do the dishes. (Correct)
2) Persuade that Jon do the dishes.

Example 2:

1) Confidence that the economy will avoid(Correct)
2) Confidence in the economy to avoid

Example 3:

1) Company requires that the employees be screened...(Correct)
2) Company requires the employees to be screened...

Example 4:

1) Believed people to be great(correct)
2) Believed that people are great

Thanks!

[RonPurewal]

Only #2 has anything to do with idiomatic usage.

You can resolve #1 by just thinking, literally, about the very basics of the sentence—the verb and the object.
Whom are you persuading?
You're persuading Jon.
OK.

[RonPurewal]

Example 3:

1) Company requires that the employees be screened...(Correct)
2) Company requires the employees to be screened...

Both versions in #3 are fine. They mean slightly different things, but the difference is way too slight to be dispositive in an official GMAT problem. (If a GMAC problem turns on a meaning difference, it will be a BIG difference.)

[RonPurewal]

Example 4:

1) Believed people to be great(correct)
2) Believed that people are great

Thanks!

Both versions in #4 can work, too. Absent a specific context, it's impossible to pick one or the other.

In actual usage, you're very unlikely to see "believed to be..." as anything other than a modifier.

E.g.,
Snakes, believed to be demons by many primitive peoples, ...
This kind of thing is decently common.

On the other hand, you pretty much won't see something like Many primitive peoples believed snakes to be demons. It's not wrong; it's just weird. Decent writers would write ...believed that snakes were demons instead.

[rustom.hakimiyan]

Thanks, Ron. I'll try to keep my eyes peeled for this. Maybe the idiomatic structure of #2 was throwing the rest off for me.

Thanks.

[tim]

:)