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I'm a S. Korean so eager to learn English. My friends and I keep practicing English, and we often run into sentences native speakers might find awkward. Please take a look at this. This is what my friend wrote.

1) We all are aware of that we are short on time.

I believe the word 'of' is followed by 'nouns', not 'subjects and verbs', right? So I suppose this needs to be rewritten,

2a) We are aware of the fact that we are short on time. OR
2b) We are aware that we are short on time.

Would you please help me know which one sounds okay? If none of them looks natural, would you please show me a good one?

Jongeun Ha
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    The first sentence sounds ungrammatical, whereas the last two are fine, with 2a being a bit wordier. –  Apr 30 '18 at 10:56
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    Just want to add my confirmation that your 2a and 2b are spot on, in the form of a "well done"! – Lightness Races in Orbit Apr 30 '18 at 14:11
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    Unrelated to your actual question, but FYI whilst We all are aware .... is grammatically sound and does sometimes get used, the phrasing We are all aware ... is much more commonly used and will sound more natural to native speakers. – Brondahl Apr 30 '18 at 15:35
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    if "time" in this case is a commodity, shouldn't it be "short of time" – Michael J. Apr 30 '18 at 17:39
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    You're as good if not better than most native speakers. Practice really does make perfect, it seems. – UIDAlexD Apr 30 '18 at 21:12
  • Tᴚoɯɐuo and Prin S each answered half of the question. Both 2a and 2b are grammatically correct, but it would be rare to hear 2a. 2b is the most natural, and in speech would often be shortened to We're aware [that] we're short on time. – CJ Dennis May 01 '18 at 08:20

5 Answers5

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You are correct that aware of takes a noun-phrase

We were aware of his intentions.

and aware is complemented by a subordinate clause

We were aware that he intended to sell the company.

TimR
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  • This only answers the introductory part of the question, and not the main part of how to (re-)write such a sentence to be acceptable to a native speaker and what way (if any) is the better. – JdeBP May 01 '18 at 07:19
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Both sentences (2a and 2b) are fine, but the first one (2a) is wordy (contains too many words). So, the second one (2b) is better and also sounds okay.

Prin S
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We are all aware that we are short on time.

That is the closest to your friends sentence while sounding the most natural (and a bit poetic). I swapped 'all' and 'are' because the way it originally was written would put an unnatural stress on 'all', but that's not the point of the sentence.

Jamie Clinton
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As other answers explain, sentences 2a and 2b are both grammatically correct and natural enough (if a little wordy). But if you're looking for a more natural way of saying the same thing, you might consider:

"We all know we're short on time"

ASGM
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The usual way to use this construct in English would be with a gerund, to wit

We are aware of being short on time.

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    I don't know how using a gerund (We are aware of being short on time) would be any more "usual" than using a clause starting with that (We are aware that we are short on time). – J.R. Apr 30 '18 at 18:50
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    "Another" rather than "The usual" would be better here. – JdeBP May 01 '18 at 07:21