comma VS. that

[羡鱼-Xianyu]

Anyone deciding to follow an evening course must be aware that they must follow it week in week out, not just go along whenever they feel like it - or when there's nothing better to watch on 'the telly' that evening! The trouble is, quite a lot of adults slip back into their old ways and miss lessons - just like they did when they were at school.

Hello, everybody!
Can the above sentence in bold be changed into: The trouble is that quite a lot of adults...? I mean that the sentence in bold should be a predicative clause, but can the guide word 'that' be replaced by a 'comma'? It is very weird to my eyes, and I've never seen such way of expression, have you? Is it bad Enlish? Thanks in advance!

Regard

 

[emsr2d2]

Anyone deciding to follow an evening course must be aware that they must follow it week in week out, not just go along whenever they feel like it - or when there's nothing better to watch on 'the telly' that evening! The trouble is, quite a lot of adults slip back into their old ways and miss lessons - just like they did when they were at school.

Hello, everybody!
Can the above sentence in bold be changed into: The trouble is that quite a lot of adults...? I mean that the sentence in bold should be a predicative clause, but can the guide word 'that' be replaced by a 'comma'? It is very weird to my eyes, and I've never seen such way of expression, have you? Is it bad Enlish? Thanks in advance!

Regard

You can add the word "that" and remove the comma, but you don't need to. We actually use the phrase "The trouble is + comma" quite frequently.

Are you going on holiday this year?
I'd like to but the trouble is, I have no money.

Are you wearing that red dress to the party on Saturday?
I was going to but the trouble is, I've put on weight and now it doesn't fit!

 

[羡鱼-Xianyu]

You can add the word "that" and remove the comma, but you don't need to. We actually use the phrase "The trouble is + comma" quite frequently.

Are you going on holiday this year?
I'd like to but the trouble is, I have no money.

Are you wearing that red dress to the party on Saturday?
I was going to but the trouble is, I've put on weight and now it doesn't fit!

Hi emsr2d2, thank you for your help and the excellent examples.

Originally I thought it was bad English. After reading your wonderful examples, now I knew that it turns out to be commonly used in English-speaking coutries.

Cheers!