C. NOUN CLAUSE
By Richard Nordquist , (About.com Guide)
Noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun (that is, as a subject, object, or complement) within a sentence. Also known as a nominal clause.
A subject is the part of a sentence or clause that commonly indicates (a) what it is about, or (b) who or what performs the action (that is, the agent).
The subject is typically a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun. In a declarative sentence, the subject usually appears before the verb ("Gus never smiles"). In an interrogative sentence, the subject usually follows the first part of a verb ("Does Gus ever smile?").
How to Identify the Subject:
"The clearest way of spotting the subject of a sentence is to turn the sentence into a yes-no question (by this we mean a question which can be answered with either 'yes' or 'no'). In English, questions are formed by reversing the order between the subject and the first verb which follows it.
Look at the following example:
He can keep a Tamagotchi alive for more than a week.
The appropriate question here if we want a 'yes' or 'no' as an answer is:
Can he keep a Tamagotchi alive for more than a week?
Here 'he' and 'can' have changed places and that means that 'he' must be the subject in the first sentence. . . .
"If there is no suitable verb in the original sentence, then use do or does, and the subject is the constituent which occurs between do and the original verb."
(Kersti Börjars and Kate Burridge, Introducing English Grammar, 2nd ed. Hodder, 2010)
"The traditional definition of subject as referring to the 'doer of an action' (or agent), though it is adequate for central or typical cases, will not work for all cases. For example, in passive sentences, such as John was attacked, the subject is John, but John is certainly not the 'doer' of the attacking. Again, not all sentences, even those with transitive verbs, express any action. Examples are This book cost fifty francs and I loathe relativism. But such sentences have always traditionally been held to have subjects (in these cases, this book and I)."
(James R. Hurford, Grammar: A Student's Guide. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994)
A object is a word or group of words, functioning as a noun or a pronoun, that is influenced by a verb (direct object), a verbal (indirect object), or a preposition (object of a preposition).
"He had a sensation of anxiety and shame, a sensitivity acute beyond usefulness, as if the nervous system, flayed of its old hide of social usage, must record every touch of pain."
"He told me the story of what happened when he won the Silver Star, but he never told me he won the Silver Star for it."
object of a preposition
"Boys are playing basketball around a telephone pole with a backboard bolted to it."
(John Updike, Rabbit, Run)
"Objects are most typically noun phrases. They follow the verb. They may be direct or indirect.
Direct objects indicate the person or thing that undergoes the action denoted by the verb, or the participant directly affected by the action:
Indirect objects indicate the recipient of a direct object. They are usually people or animals. An indirect object (bold) is always accompanied by a direct object . . .:
(Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy, "Object." Cambridge Grammar of English, Cambridge University Press, 2006)
A complement is a word or word group that completes the predicate in a sentence.
The two kinds of complements are subject complements (which follow the verb be and other linking verbs) and object complements (which follow a direct object). If it identifies the subject, the complement is a noun or pronoun; if it describes the subject, the complement is an adjective.
Complements are required to complete the verb, in contrast to modifiers, which are optional.
Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.
(Jules de Gaultier)
Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.
Well, spring sprang. Thanks, Gaia. Much obliged. I guess it's time to get back to that daily routine of living we like to call normal.
(Northern Exposure, 1991)
Libel actions, when we look at them in perspective, are an ornament of a civilized society.
(Henry Anatole Grunwald)
"The word 'complement' is also used in a wider sense. We often need to add something to a verb, noun, or adjective to complete its meaning. If somebody says I want, we expect to hear what he or she wants; the words the need obviously don't make sense alone; after hearing I'm interested, we may need to be told what the speaker is interested in. Words and expressions which 'complete' the meaning of a verb, noun, or adjective are also called 'complements.'
I want a drink, and then I want to go home.
Does she understand the need for secrecy?
I'm interested in learning to fly.
Many verbs can be followed by noun complements or -ing forms with no preposition ('direct objects'). But nouns and adjectives normally need prepositions to join them to noun or -ing form complements."
(Michael Swan, Practical English Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 1995)
I know that there are things that never have been funny, and never will be. And I know that ridicule may be a shield, but it is not a weapon.
I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.
(Henry David Thoreau)
How we remember, what we remember, and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality.
That dogs, low-comedy confederates of small children and ragged bachelors, should have turned into an emblem of having made it to the middle class--like the hibachi, like golf clubs and a second car--seems at the very least incongruous.
(Edward Hoagland, "Dogs, and the Tug of Life")
"All sentences, then, are clauses, but not all clauses are sentences. In the following sentences, for example, the direct object slot contains a clause rather than a noun phrase. These are examples of nominal clauses (sometimes called 'noun clauses'):
I know that the students studied their assignment.
I wonder what is making Tracy so unhappy.Combine the sentences in each set into a single clear sentence with at least one noun phrase or noun clause. Turn all questions (interrogative sentences) into declarative statements, and eliminate any needless repetition.
One either has or does not have a mathematical mind.
This is a common myth about the nature of mathematical ability.
A common myth about the nature of mathematical ability holds that one either has or does not have a mathematical mind.
(Sheila Tobias, "Who's Afraid of Math, and Why?")
How does cross-country skiing differ most fundamentally from downhill skiing?
It differs in the way you get yourself uphill.
Where cross-country skiing differs most fundamentally from downhill skiing is in the way you get yourself uphill.
(Thomas J. Jackson, "Happy Trails")
What will radar scanning be valuable for?
It will detect modern waterways lying near the surface in arid areas.
Geologists believe this.
Geologists believe that radar scanning will be valuable for detecting modern waterways lying near the surface in arid areas.
What does the American value?
The American does not value the possession of money as such.
The American values his power to make money as a proof of his manhood.
What an American values is not the possession of money as such, but his power to make it as a proof of his manhood.
(W.H. Auden, "The Almighty Dollar")
What is the secret of a good life?
One must have the right loyalties.
One must hold them in the right scale of values.
The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and to hold them in the right scale of values.
(Norman Thomas, "Great Dissenters")
Your authority, if not already gone, is slipping fast.
What is the best way to learn this?
Help your eldest son pick a college.
Helping your eldest son pick a college is the best way to learn that your authority, if not already gone, is slipping fast.
(Sally and James Reston)
What is diplomacy?
One does the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
One says the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
Diplomacy is to do and say the nastiest thing in the nicest way.
What should politicians be encouraged to do?
They should stand for what they believe in.
They should not formulate their principles on the basis of opinion polls.
Politicians should be encouraged to stand for what they believe in, not formulate their principles on the basis of opinion polls.
What is the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day?
He can work.
That is the saddest thing.
One of the saddest things is that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day, day after day, is work.
How does propaganda work?
It tricks us.
It distracts the eye momentarily.
It distracts while the rabbit pops out from beneath the cloth.
Propaganda works by tricking us, by momentarily distracting the eye while the rabbit pops out from beneath the cloth.
(Donna Woolfolk Cross, Word Abuse)
Do The following as the above examples
That is not the real problem.
We don't know how to meet troubles.
That is the real problem.
That is not happiness.
Do you want what you have?
That is happiness.
They have a position of honor in the family.
They will be needed in diverse matters.
They will initiate a young bride into the ways and running habits of her new home.
They will offer experienced business advice.
They will gauge the proper size of a daughter's dowry.
Being happy is not the purpose of life.
The purpose is to matter.
The purpose is to be productive.
The purpose is to be useful.
The purpose is to have it make some difference that you lived at all.
What imperishable treasures of mind and heart have we deposited in the bank of the spirit against this rainy day?
The truth is this.
When we are in trouble we discover these things.
We discover them swiftly.
We discover them painfully.
He gets his head under a rock or log.
He raises his quills.
He whips his tail about at lightning speed.
His tail is quill-filled.
He waits for someone to come and get it.
Or is work useless?
Is work productive?
Or is work parasitic?
In practice nobody cares.
Work shall be profitable.
That is the sole thing demanded.
Check with the manufacturer as to its source.
Check with the manufacturer as to the type of processing. Check with the manufacturer as to results of tests of its content and purity.
Dr. Robert Harris suggests this.
Dr. Robert Harris is a water specialist at the Environmental Defense Fund.
How do you feel about others?
How will you fit into a group?
Are you assured?
Or are you anxious?
To what degree do you feel comfortable with the standards of your own culture?
Nonverbal communications signal these things to members of your own group.
It is not to implant facts.
It is to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner.
It is to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights.
These answers and insights give meaning to the personal life.
The teacher must awaken through sympathy.
The teacher must awaken through emotion.
The teacher must awaken through imagination.
The teacher must awaken through patience.