English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I have a question about Reported Speech: when do I need to use that?
For example, why do I need to use that here?
Original sentence:
"We went out last night."
Sentence with reported speech:
She said that they had gone out last night.
Why in this example don’t I need to use that?
Original sentence:
"He works in a bank."
Sentence with reported speech:
She said he worked in a bank
There is no difference between your two examples. One can include the word "that", or one can exclude it. It is more likely to be included in writing than in speech. The more formal the context, the more likely the "that" is to be included.
She said that they had gone out last night.
She said they had gone out last night.
Both are correct, the latter less formal.
She said that he worked in a bank.
She said he worked in a bank.
Both are correct, the latter less formal.
Here are some other examples where "that" is omitted informally:
It can also be omitted in contexts unrelated to reported speech.
To supplement @rjpond 's excellent answer, I will point out that journalism students, at least in the US, are explicitly taught to omit "that" in these constructions. Reuters, the British news agency, includes this remark in their General Style Guide:
Avoid the unnecessary use of that as in "He said that he was going to" etc. (page 420).
My point is that how we define formality when using this word depends on the context. Reuters is not known for generating tabloid-style articles.
