Over on another network site, a helpful user corrected the grammar of a post of mine.
The answer now says
I believe it's valid.
where I originally wrote
I believe it valid.
Is the original sentence gramamatically (or at least idiomatically) correct or do I absolutely need a form of 'to be' here?
(What's more, is 'to be' a copula or an auxiliary verb if used like this?)
I am quite certain that I have seen sentences like the original one in the past, but I am uncertain where. Given that I am frequently exposed to the somewhat made-up English of authors in the fields of sci-fi and fantasy, I might have fallen into a trap here.
Edit: I don't doubt that the correction is valid and enhances readability.
Best Answer
Believe is a verb that can take three different types of Object Complement.
It can take a tensed Embedded Question complement:
It can take a tensed That-clause complement:
And it can take an Infinitive complement, with B-Raising:
The only kind it doesn't take is the Gerund complement; this is ungrammatical:
The two different sentences in the original question simply have different complement types. Both are grammatical, both mean the same thing, and either will get to the same place, though by a slightly different route. No worries, eh?
Deletions are common; check for empty slots. But you have to know what slots there are.