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CollegeEnglishGrammar:GrammarandWritingByZhuXiangjunUnit13Subjectclauseandpredictiveclause•Grammar:1)Subjectclause2)Predictiveclause•Writing:Correcting:FaultyCoordination/SubordinationRewriting:HowtoexpandasentenceNounClausesAnounclauseisasubordinateclauseusedasanoun.Likeanoun,anounclausecanactasasubject,anobject,acomplementoranappositive.•HowdidtheancientGreeksbuildthepyramids?•Themethodisstillamystery.HowtheancientGreeksbuiltthepyramidsisstillamystery.[asasubject]•Whatdidhewriteonanote?•Heshowedmethemessagelastnight.Lastnightheshowedmewhathewroteonanote.[asanobject]•Thisisthereason.•Whyaresomanypeopleunabletoaffordahouse?Thisiswhysomanypeopleareunabletoaffordahouse.[asasubjectcomplement]•(Compare:Thisisthereasonwhysomanypeopleareunabletoaffordahouse.[asanadjectiveclausemodifyingthenoun“reason”])•Noonecandenythefact.•Thefactisthattheinflationoftheworldisgrowingserious.Noonecandenythefactthattheinflationoftheworldisgrowingserious.[asanappositive]1.FormsandkindsNounclausesusuallybeginwithsubordinatingwordslikehow,why,what,where,when,who,that,which,whose,whether,etc.Subordinatingword+subject+predicateverb+object+…Nounclausescanbeputintothree:–thosefromwh-questions,startingwithaquestionwordsuchaswho,what,whenwhere,why,andhow;–thosefromyes-noquestions,startingwithif,whether;–thosefromstatements,startingwiththat.•Wh-questionsarethequestionsthatbeginwithwh-questionwords,includinghow,what,when,where,who,etc.andyes-noquestionsarethequestionstowhichtheanswerisyesorno.•Whydidsomanypeoplebelievehisstory?•Thereasonisamysterytome.Whysomanypeoplebelievedhisstoryisamysterytome.•(whyfunctionsasanadverbinsidethenounclause)•Whowilljoinus?•Noonetoldmethat.Noonetoldmewhowilljoinus.•(whofunctionsasasubjectinsidethenounclause)•Hadmyoperationbeensuccessful?•Heaskedhisdoctorthatquestion.Heaskedhisdoctorif/whetherhisoperationhadbeensuccessful.•(if/whetherhasnofunctionwithinthenounclause)•Hewouldhavetostayinhospital.•Heshouldbethereforanothertwoweeks.•Thedoctortoldhimso.Thedoctortoldhimthathewouldhavetostayinhospitalforanothertwoweeks.•(thathasnofunctionwithinthenounclause)Wordorderinnounclauseisthesameasinstatements.Itiscommonerrortousequestionwordorderaftersomewordssuchaswho,what,when,where,how,whyandsoonwhentheyintroducenounclauses.•Howmuchcanyoubuywithsolittlemoney?[awh-question]•howmuchyoucanbuywithsolittlemoney[anounclause]•Canyoubeathisscore?[ayes/noquestion]•if/whetheryoucanbeathisscore[anounclause]•Hehasmadeanimportantdiscovery.[astatement]•thathehasmadeanimportantdiscovery[anounclause]•Noonecanalterthepast.[astatement]•thatnoonecanalterthepast[anounclause]2.SubjectclausesWhenanounclausefunctionsasasubject,itiscalledasubjectclause.Thesubjectclausesarenotseparatedbyacomma.•Shebecameanartist.•Thatmayhavebeenduetoherfather’sinfluence.Thatshebecameanartistmayhavebeenduetoherfather’sinfluence.•Willitdousharm?•Thequestionremainstobeseen.Whetheritwilldousharmremainstobeseen.•Howmanypeoplearewetoinvite?•Itisstillaquestion.Howmanypeoplewearetoinviteisstillaquestion.Subjectclausecanbereplacedbyalogicsubject“it”especiallywhenthesubjectclauseismuchlongerthanthemainclause.•Whetheritwilldousharmremainstobeseen.Itremainstobeseenwhetheritwilldousharm.•Howmanypeoplewearetoinviteisstillaquestion.Itisstillaquestionhowmanypeoplewearetoinvite.Whenthesubordinatingword“if”introducesasubjectclause,theclausecannotbeplacedatthebeginning;whereas,theclausecanbeplacedbothatthebeginningandattheendwhenthesubjectclauseisintroducedbythesubordinatingword“whether”.Forinstance:Ifshecomesornotmakesnodifference.Whethershecomesornotmakesnodifference.•Itisdoubtfulwhether/ifthePresidentknewthedetailsoftheplan.•Inthesentencepattern“It+be+adj.+subjectclause”,weusuallyusesubjectivemoodintheclausewhentheadjectivesarenecessary,important,impossible,strange,natural,essentialandsoon.•Heshouldsortouttheinformation.•Theinformationisformyreference.•Hisactionisnecessary.Itisnecessarythathe(should)sortouttheinformationformyreference.•Weshouldbuildmorepowerstations.•Thestationsusewatertoproducepower.•Thatisimportant.Itisimportantthatwebuildmorehydroelectricpowerstations.3.PredicativeclausesWhenanounclausefollowsalinkverbandfunctionsasacomplementofasubject,itiscalledapredicativeclause.Nocommaisneededwhenweusethepredicativeclauses.•Thedemandisthis.•Thecompositionshouldbewrittenononesideonly.Thedemandisthatthecomposition(should)bewrittenononesideonly.•Thequestionisthis.•Issheabletodoitherself?Thequestioniswhethersheisabletodoitherself.•Whatdidtheynotknow?•Whydidhecallthemwiththeirnicknames?Whattheydidn’tknowwaswhyhecalledthemwiththeirnicknames.Predictiveclausescanbeintroducedbythewordwhethernotif.HisfirstquestionwasifTomhadarrivedyet.HisfirstquestionwaswhetherTomhadarrivedyet.Ifthesubjectofthemainclauseisthewordreason,weusethesubordinatingwordthatnotbecausetointroducethepredictiveclause.Thereasonwhyhewasdismissedwasbecausehewascarelessandirresponsible.Thereasonwhyhewasdismissedwasthathewascarelessandirresponsible.Combinethesentencesineachsetintoasinglec