The difference between "I understand you said that" and "I understand you to say that"
In the following context, can I replace "I understand you to say that" with "I understand you say that"? What's the difference bwtween the them?

"I'm sorry ，Madam ，but I shall have to charge you twenty dollars for pulling your boy's tooth ."

　　"Twenty dollars! Why，I understand you to say that you charged only four dollars for such work!"

　　"Yes，but this youngster yelled so terribly that he scared four other patients out of the office ."

Thank you in advance.

Question

The difference between "I understand you said that" and "I understand you to say that"
In the following context, can I replace "I understand you to say that" with "I understand you say that"? What's the difference bwtween the them?

"I'm sorry ，Madam ，but I shall have to charge you twenty dollars for pulling your boy's tooth ."

"Twenty dollars! Why，I understand you to say that you charged only four dollars for such work!"

"Yes，but this youngster yelled so terribly that he scared four other patients out of the office ."

Thank you in advance.

Answer

Make it past tense.  "I understood you said it was $4"  and "I understood you to say it was $4"  are both OK, although "you to say that" is more formal.

Answers · 2

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