Leavesthat

Leavesthat is a term used in linguistic discussions to describe the pattern of omitting the complementizer that in English embedded clauses. In informal speech and many varieties of English, speakers frequently drop that after verbs of saying, thinking, believing, and similar predicates, producing sentences like I think (that) you’re right or She said (that) she would come. The label leavesthat is sometimes used by researchers and writers as a concise way to reference this particular case of optional complementizer deletion.

Definition and scope

Leavesthat refers specifically to the optional omission of the word that in subordinate clauses introduced by verbs of cognition, perception, communication, or assertion. The phenomenon is distinct from other forms of ellipsis because it centers on a single, functional element that can be present or absent without altering the core proposition. The frequency and acceptability of leavesthat vary by dialect, formality, and discourse context, with greater tolerance for omission in casual spoken language.

Linguistic significance and applications

In corpus linguistics and psycholinguistics, leavesthat is studied to understand how listeners interpret sentences with or without that and how omission affects processing speed and ambiguity. For natural language processing, accounting for leavesthat improves the robustness of parsing and language models when encountering everyday speech patterns. In language teaching, awareness of leavesthat helps learners choose appropriate levels of formality and clarity in different contexts.

See also

That-deletion, complementizer omission, English grammar, discourse pragmatics.