The distinction between propositions and states-of-affairs is made in philosophy (Vendler 1967) and linguistic semantics (Dik 1997). The distinctive criteria are summarized in the table.
| property | proposition | state-of-affairs |
|---|---|---|
| terms | proposition truth (possible) fact |
event occurrence state-of-affairs |
| matrix predicates | 'know', 'believe' | 'take place', 'happen', immediate perception verbs |
| has a truth value | yes | no |
| situation has been mentally processed by the speaker | yes | no |
| can contain negation | yes | no |
| located in space and time | no | yes |
| directly sensorily perceptible | no | yes |
| complement structurally deranked | less | more |
| English complement construction | that clause | infinitive, abstract noun |
The complement clause of designates a proposition; the complement clause of designates a state-of-affairs.
| . | I know that Jim took his coat. |
| . | I saw Jim take his coat. |