7.84 nouns used with reported clauses

There are many nouns, such as 'statement', 'advice', and 'opinion', which refer to what someone says or thinks. Many of the nouns used in this way are related to reporting verbs. For example, 'information' is related to 'inform', and 'decision' is related to 'decide'. These nouns can be used in report structures in a similar way to reporting verbs. They are usually followed by a reported clause beginning with 'that'.

• He referred to Copernicus' statement that the earth moves around the sun.
• He expressed the opinion that Kitchener should be made War Minister.
• There was little hope that he would survive.

Here is a list of nouns which have related reporting verbs and which can be used with 'that'-clauses:

• admission, advice, agreement, announcement, answer, argument, assertion, assumption, belief, claim, conclusion, decision, dream, expectation, explanation, feeling, guess, hope, information, knowledge, promise, reply, report, response, rule, rumour, saying, sense, statement, thought, threat, understanding, warning, wish

Some of these nouns can also be followed by a 'to'-infinitive clause:

agreement, claim, decision, hope, promise, threat, warning, wish

• The decision to go had not been an easy one to make.
• Barnaby's father had fulfilled his promise to buy his son a horse.

Note that some nouns that are not related to reporting verbs can be followed by 'that'-clauses, because they refer or relate to facts or beliefs. Here is a list of some of these nouns:

• advantage, benefit, confidence, danger, disadvantage, effect, evidence, experience, fact, faith, idea, impression, news, opinion, possibility, principle, risk, sign, story, tradition, view, vision, word

• He didn't want her to get the idea that he was rich.
• I had no evidence that Jed was the killer.
• Eventually, a distraught McCoo turned up with the news that his house had just burned down.