"To ensure" vs. "To ensure that" + subject + predicate

Question

Is any of these two sentences incorrect:

-(without that): "To ensure the voters are not influenced by mass-media, the campaign will end 7 days before the elections take place."

-(with that): "To ensure that the voters are not influenced by mass-media, the campaign will end 7 days before the elections take place."

Is the presence of that mandatory?

That is a relative pronoun, used for linking clauses, but which is frequently elided - as in to ensure the voters are not influenced... — WS2, Sep 21 '16 at 12:35

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 21 '16 at 13:21

0

I agree with both the previous commentators. WS2 is correct in saying that the relative pronoun here 'that' is frequently elided. I share Hot Licks's view that inclusion of 'that' is stylistically preferable.

answered Sep 21 '16 at 13:21

Catherine Ebenezer

24

This 'that' is the complementiser usage. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 21 '16 at 20:40
@EdwinAshworth Google says that the complementiser concept is new (in the sense that "old-school" theory might have called it a conjunction instead). Is that accurate? – teodron Oct 18 '16 at 15:20

"To ensure" vs. "To ensure that" + subject + predicate

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