nonfactive

Nonfactive is a term used in linguistics to describe verbs or predicates whose embedded content does not presuppose the truth of the proposition they contain. In contrast, factive verbs embed propositions that are presupposed to be true within the discourse world. The distinction is important for the analysis of presuppositions, negation, and belief reports, since the truth conditions of sentences with nonfactive verbs differ from those with factive verbs.

Commonly cited English nonfactive verbs include think, suppose, guess, imagine, and believe. The embedded content can be finite or nonfinite, and the nonfactive status means that the truth of the embedded proposition is not asserted by the main clause. For example, in I think that the meeting was canceled, the statement expresses the speaker’s thought rather than a guaranteed fact about the meeting’s cancellation. By contrast, with a factive verb such as know or realize, the embedded proposition is treated as true and known.

Nonfactivity is discussed across attitude reports, epistemic verbs, and clause-embedding in various languages. Some languages encode nonfactivity or related distinctions through morphology, evidentiality, or mood, while others rely primarily on lexical choice. The study of nonfactivity intersects with theories of presupposition, implication, and the semantics of belief and uncertainty.

See also: factivity, presupposition, attitude verb, clause embedding.