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While on hold today by phone, a recording regularly told me, "We appreciate your time is valuable". Is this correct English?

I know that there are special verbs, like "know" or "remember", which are used so often with "that" that the "that" can be omitted. So, "We know your time is valuable" is perfectly fine as a contraction for "We know that your time is valuable". But, does the verb "appreciate" really have the same privileges? What are verbs with these privileges called and how many are there?

I don't even feel comfortable saying, "We appreciate that your time is valuable". My instinct is instead to say, "We appreciate the fact that your time is valuable."

Laurel
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bobuhito
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    "We appreciate that your time is valuable" is totally idiomatic. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 15:02
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    @EdwinAshworth OK, but the recording did not include the word "that", so I'm hoping for a thorough answer to all of my little questions. – bobuhito Mar 07 '22 at 15:14
  • That-clauses are addressed at ThoughtCo. As well as 'We think / know / suspect / appreciate / feel ... [that your ...]' sentences, there are it-clefts such as 'It is clear / obvious / recognised / appreciated that your time ...' where 'that' is more often retained. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 15:33
  • @EdwinAshworth So, is "We appreciate your time is valuable" fine in your opinion? You said "that" is "often optional", leaving your opinion unclear, but I feel like this is bad grammar. – bobuhito Mar 07 '22 at 15:50
  • It's less formal than the undeleted version, but that can be a good thing. I'd perhaps use it in speech (and I'm sure many would use it more than I would) but never in a formal letter. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 17:38
  • David Denison in a non-quotable paper states that there are many types of verb in English which permit a that-clause complement, including factual ('He acknowledged that he had been there') and suasive ('He strongly suggested that we go') verbs. But he also says that the list of verbs allowing a that-clause has increased significantly since about 2000 (eg 'The document highlights that the ...')... But Denison includes a useful list of verbs. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 17:47
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    @EdwinAshworth Thanks for the details. But, after looking at all of your links, I do not agree that this question has already been "dealt with" (notice that your reference for "that deletion" is about adding "that" after a noun, not a verb), so I recommend you post your comments as an answer. And, I still feel like this phone recording (especially since "that" was omitted) had bad grammar, so I hope to get other answers too...most likely, my old-fashioned 1980 English needs to be updated (or maybe I have even had it wrong all along). – bobuhito Mar 07 '22 at 18:35
  • I don't know if I'd call it ungrammatical, but it's not idiomatic. It's a garden-path construction. It starts off as We appreciate your time. Even with that inserted, it still sounds off; we appreciate can mean we understand or we like. We like that your time is valuable is not the intended meaning, but that's the one that comes through first. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 07 '22 at 18:50
  • Yes, that's relativiser 'that' rather than complementiser 'that'. Apologies. But the link I've given here addresses complementiser 'that' ... and there are others. Why can you use relative clauses {sic} with implicit complementisers...? //// ... – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 19:32
  • That-clauses are addressed at ThoughtCo. As well as 'We think / know / suspect / appreciate / feel ... [that your ...]' sentences, there are it-clefts such as 'It is clear / obvious / recognised / appreciated that your time ...' where 'that' is more often retained. But I think we'll have to wait until Denison releases the paper fully to have the basis of a comprehensive answer here. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 07 '22 at 19:32
  • Possible verbs that can be used in that slot include doubt and pretend. – John Lawler Mar 07 '22 at 19:36
  • @TinfoilHat I am happy with "We appreciate your time" if the sentence stops there, but still cannot support "We appreciate your time is valuable". So, I still think the person that made that hold message does not know English well. – bobuhito Mar 07 '22 at 21:05
  • Yes — that's what I'm saying. We appreciate your time means we We value your time. But when the sentence continues the reader sees, in order, We value your time is valuable — not We understand your time is valuable. It's in part the dual nature of appreciate causing the problem. – Tinfoil Hat Mar 07 '22 at 21:22
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    I can find this usage of appreciate + clause without that in lots of fantasy novels and multiple times in a speech by George W Bush. Whether that constitutes a recommendation is left as an exercise. (I don't find it ambiguous; there is no requirement to eliminate all garden paths, just those that are longer and more confusing.) – Stuart F Mar 08 '22 at 11:10
  • @EdwinAshworth, what you say in your comments may constitute an answer, but it is not a reason for dismissing the question. – jsw29 Mar 29 '22 at 15:13
  • @jsw29 Requests for lists have been off-topic, to the best of my knowledge, for as long as I've been a contributor to ELU. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 30 '22 at 11:44
  • Omissability of 'that' in 'I believe [that] ...': Is 'that' required in this sentence? – Edwin Ashworth Mar 30 '22 at 11:50

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What’s the difference? If you can omit “that” in:

We know you would like to strangle us for keeping you on hold because we don’t employ enough staff.

you can surely do the same in:

We appreciate you would like to strangle us for keeping you on hold because we don’t employ enough staff.

David
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    The last sentence just doesn't sound right to me, but I might have grown up with an abnormally-strict definition of appreciate. "We appreciate your frustration" (or pick your noun) does, however, sound fine. – bobuhito Mar 30 '22 at 23:26
  • I'd say "We reject that our time is less valuable" is unquestionably acceptable, whereas "We reject our time is less valuable" is arguably unacceptable. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 24 '23 at 10:55