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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CÓRDOBA

FACULTAD DE LENGUAS

GRAMÁTICA INGLESA I

NOMINAL CLAUSES

Profesor Titular: Fabián Negrelli

Profesora Asistente: Candelaria Luque Colombres

Profesora Asistente: Vanina Neyra

Profesor Asistente: Pablo Carpintero

Profesora Adscripta: Paula Ré

CICLO LECTIVO 2021

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NOMINAL CLAUSES

A nominal or noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun, that is,
as subject, object, or complement, within a sentence.

“That ” Clauses

Nominal THAT clauses are introduced by the subordinating conjunction “that”, which, in
some cases, can be omitted. That-clauses can fulfil some of the functions of a noun
phrase:

 Subject

That the driver could not control his car is obvious and undeniable.

That you may have lied to me disturbs me deeply.

That he had made a mistake was clear from his remarks.

That you arrived just at that moment was unfortunate.

 Extraposed subject
Extraposed clauses are much preferred in English to the non-extraposed, as they sound much
less awkward. The reason for is that they satisfy the principles of end-weight and end-focus,
thus 'packaging' the information in a way that is easier to process. The conjunction that is
obligatory when the clause is subject. However, if the that-clause is extraposed subject, the
subordinating conjunction may be omitted.

It is obvious and undeniable (that) the driver could not control his car.

It disturbs me deeply (that) you may have lied to me.

It was clear from his remarks (that) he had made a mistake.

It was unfortunate (that) you arrived just at that moment.

 Direct object

When the clause is object and comes after its verb, the subordinating conjunction that is
optional, and is usually omitted in a short sentence. In longer sentences, especially when
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the that-clause is separated from the verb of which it is the object or when there is more than
one subordinate clause, that is usually obligatory as in:

Everybody could see (that) he was terrified.

The ancient Greeks knew (that) the earth was round.
I never imagined (that) he would react that way.

Everybody could see, I believe, that he was terrified.

Everybody could see what was happening and that he was terrified.
An important discovery was that, in both types of environments, the children´s language
developed at the same rate.
Some teachers believe that, if students see or hear errors, they will learn those errors.

Sometimes, the that-clause, as object, can come before the clause it depends on, and, in such
case, the subordinating conjunction is obligatory.

That George was terrified, I can´t believe.

That he would react that way, I never imagined.

The case of the Real Direct Object

Direct Objects can also be extraposed. Recall that their typical position is after the verb;
however, when anticipatory it is used, the Direct Object is extraposed:
He made it very clear that he would not be coming back.

He doesn´t like it that she still smokes.

I hate it that nobody ever cleans up after the meetings.

We considered it odd that no one had called us.

I take it for granted that there will be an appeal.

 Subject complement

When the that-clause is subject complement the subordinating conjunction may be omitted.

The truth is (that) he is very shy.

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The problem is (that) he has lost all his money at the casino.

My suggestion is (that) we wait until they come back.

 Appositive

In grammar, an appositive is a word, phrase, or clause that supports another word, phrase, or
clause by describing or modifying the other word, phrase, or clause . A noun clause that-
clause may be in apposition to a noun like fact, truth, explanation, reason, idea, etc.

We must face the fact (that) we have spent all our money.

The reason (that) he had no money has changed his lifestyle.

The explanation (that) she was Chinese is irrelevant.

Nobody now believes the theory (that) the earth is flat.

In these examples the apposition is restrictive and answers the question “Which fact?” There
is no comma and no break in intonation.

However, in the following examples the apposition is non-restrictive: it is not essential for the
meaning of the whole sentence; it interrupts the intonation pattern of the sentence and it is put
between commas:

The hard truth, that they had spent all their money, was a great shock.

Her mother´s piece of advice, that she should tell the truth to her boyfriend, was not followed.

Susan´s idea, that we should spend our holidays in a quiet place, was wonderful.

I think the solution she proposed, that he hired a replacement, was the best course of action
at the time.
The answer from the company, that we buy a new table, angers me.

Notice that the she subordinating conjunction that can sometimes be omitted in
appositive restrictive that clauses, but not in non-restrictive ones.
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 Adjectival complement

Certain adjectives, which refer to personal feelings or states of the mind, such as afraid,
certain, delighted, glad, interested, pleased, satisfied, surprised, and which can be followed
by a preposition + NP, can also be followed by a that-clause, but then the preposition is
deleted. In this case, the subordinating conjunction that is optional.

I´m afraid (that) the house will catch fire.

I´m disappointed (that) the incident occurred.

She seems to be surprised (that) she has failed the exam.

Main semantic and syntactic differences between Defining Relative clauses and nominal
THAT clauses, appositive

DIFFERENCES IN TERMS OF MEANING

While a relative clause identifies the head noun it post-modifies, that is, it provides
information which is essential for the identification of a referent of a head noun, a nominal
that clause, appositive, renames the head noun it post-modifies.

The suggestion that surprised our teacher was rejected. DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSE

Which suggestion was rejected? The one that surprised our teacher.

The relative clause points out which specific “suggestion” the sentence refers to as if there
were numerous suggestions to choose from.

The suggestion that Mike had cheated during the exam was rejected. NOMINAL THAT
CLAUSE, APPOSITIVE.

What was the suggestion? The suggestion was that Mike had cheated during the exam.

The head noun “suggestion” is restated, and thus specified by means of the appositive clause.
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DIFFERENCES IN TERMS OF STRUCTURE

Difference 1

 In terms of the introductory word, “that” in the relative clause is a relative pronoun, and
can be replaced by “which”; it can function as subject or object of the relative clause. In
the case of the nominal that clause, “that” is a subordinating conjunction and it does not
function as a clause element in the clause structure; that is why we should refer to the
function of the clause rather than the function of the subordinating conjunction
The suggestion THAT / WHICH surprised our teacher was rejected.
The function of the relative pronoun is subject.
The suggestion THAT / WHICH Mike had cheated during the exam was rejected.
The function of the clause is appositive.

Difference 2
 While the head of the noun phrase which is the antecedent of the relative clause can be a
any noun, in the case of a nominal that clause in apposition, the head of the noun phrase
must be an abstract noun -such as fact, idea, reply, answer, story, rumour, feeling,
possibility, evidence, news, appeal, suggestion, promise, belief, discovery, comment,
doubt, fear, knowledge, proposal, truth, wish, etc., which is mostly a derivative from a verb
or an adjective.

The story that she wrote was finally published last week. (CONCRETE NOUN)
The story that I was getting married in two months was published. (ABSTRACT NOUN)

Difference 3
 In the case of nominal that clauses, appositive, the noun phrase it post-modifies can be
elided without loss of grammaticality. This is not the case of defining relative clauses, in
which the antecedent is essential.

*That she wrote was finally published last week.

That I was getting married in two months was published.

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Difference 4

 In the case of nominal that clauses, appositive, the apposed units can be linked by the verb
to be. This is not the case of defining relative clauses, as it will not make sense.

*The story IS that she wrote.

The story IS that I was getting married in two months.

SUMMARY CHART
Defining relative clause Nominal that clause, appositive
It identifies the head noun it post-modifies It renames the head noun it post-modifies.
“that” in the relative clause is a relative “that” is a subordinating conjunction.
pronoun,
“that” can be replaced by “which” “that” cannot be replaced by “which”.
The relative pronoun performs a function The subordinating conjunction does not
as a clause element (subject or object) in function as a clause element in the clause
the clause structure. structure.
The antecedent may be any noun. The head of the noun phrase must be an
abstract noun.
It cannot be left out without loss of It can be left out without loss of
grammaticality o meaning. grammaticality o meaning.
The noun phrase it post-modifies cannot The noun phrase it post-modifies can be
be elided, as it affects its grammaticality. elided without loss of grammaticality.
The antecedent and the relative clause The apposed units can be linked by the
cannot be linked by the verb to be, as they verb to be.
won’t make sense.
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WH Interrogative clauses

Wh Interrogative clauses are used when there is a gap of information; there is some
information which is missing. They are introduced by wh question words and they can
perform the following functions:

 Subject

What caused the accident is a complete mystery.

Who came first is not clear.

When she is coming back is unknown.

Where she is living now is uncertain.

In this case, the WH Interrogative clause can be converted into a clause beginning with IT,
thus working as extraposed subject, as in:

It is a complete mystery what caused the accident.

It is not clear who came first.

It is unknown when she is coming back.

It is uncertain where she is living now.

 Direct object

Nobody knows what caused the accident.

I can’t guess what you really mean.

Nobody can predict what’s going to happen in life.

They couldn´t imagine what crime he had committed.

A wh-clause acting as object can come before the main clause, as in:

What caused the accident, nobody knows.

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What you really mean, I can´t guess.

What’s going to happen in life, nobody can predict.

What crime he had committed, they couldn´t imagine.

 Subject complement

The question is what caused the accident.

The problem seems to be who will take care of him.

My doubt was when she was coming back.

 Prepositional complement

The amount of money the company will give her depends on what caused the accident.

I´m not sure about why she did it.

Susan is not certain about which bus I should take.

 Adjectival complement

I’m not sure which she prefers.

She is doubtful where she will spend her next summer holidays.

They are not certain who killed the dog.

 Appositive

Your original question, why he did not report it to the police earlier, has not been answered yet.

My doubt, who will take care of my pets, still remains.

Remember that:
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Object WH Interrogative clauses have unmarked [normal] word order within the clause, not
question word order.
I don´t know what he is going to do.

She wonders when she will come back.

When a question with a WH-word as a subject is turned into an embedded question, there is
no change in the word order; that is, the embedded question has the same word order as the
regular question.

Who has delivered the paper today?

It’s unknown who has delivered the paper today.

Who has delivered the paper today is unknown.

Yes-No Interrogative clauses

Direct yes-no questions have no wh-question words and this gap is filled in indirect questions
by using the subordinating conjunctions if or whether. Yes-no interrogative clauses can
function as subject, extraposed subject, direct object, subject complement, adjectival
complement, prepositional complement, and appositive.

EXAMPLES:

Whether we will be able to help you is a difficult question. (Subject)

It is a difficult question whether / if we will be able to help you. (Extraposed subject)

We don´t know if / whether we will be able to help you. (Direct object)

The question is whether we will be able to help you. (Subject complement)

We are doubtful whether we will be able to help you. (Adjectival complement)

It depends on whether we will have enough money. (Prepositional complement)

Our doubt, whether George killed his wife, is still present in our minds. (Appositive)
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You must remember that the subordinating conjunction “if” tends to be more frequent than
“whether” in informal style for YES-NO interrogative clauses. On the other hand, if is more
restricted syntactically than whether:

If cannot introduce a subject clause unless the clause is extraposed.

Whether she likes the present is not clear to me.

It is not clear to me whether / if she likes the present.

If cannot introduce a subject complement.

The main problem right now is whether I should ask for another loan.

If cannot introduce the complement of a preposition.

It all depends on whether they will vote us.

The if-clause cannot be an apposition.

You have yet to answer my question, whether I can count on your vote.

If does not introduce an adjectival complement.

She is not certain whether she will be able to finish typing all these letters by lunchtime.

(Taken and adapted from Quirk et al, 1985, p. 1112)

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Nominal Relative clauses

Nominal or Fused Relative Clauses resemble Wh Interrogative clauses in that they are
introduced by wh pronouns, adverbs or determiners. However, in nominal relative clauses
there is no gap of information. On the other hand, in some respects, nominal relative clauses
are more like noun phrases, since they can be concrete as well as abstract and can refer even
to persons. In fact, we can paraphrase them by noun phrases containing a noun head with
general reference that is modified by a relative clause:

Whoever did that should admit it frankly.

[The person who did that ...]

I took what they offered me.

[ ... the thing(s) that they offered me]

Macy´s is where I buy my clothes.

[ ... the place where I buy my clothes]

A nominal relative clause is basically a noun phrase modified by a relative clause, except
that its wh-element is “merged”, “fused” with its antecedent. Thus, the antecedent itself is
omitted - not stated as in the case of relative clauses– , since it is implicit.

The Head noun deletion rule

According to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999, p. 599), we can apply an optional rule
called “head noun deletion” to delete the head noun where the use of both the head noun and
the relative adverb is redundant. Such a structure is often called a “free relative”, since it
allows a relative clause to exist without a head noun in the surface structure.

Sam knows the time when we are meeting. (Relative clause)

Sam knows Ø when we are meeting. (Nominal Relative clause)

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The Free relative substitution rule

This process also appears to occur in the absence of any adverbial phrase or clause when the
head noun is working as a subject, object or predicate noun:

The new teacher is just the person who we are looking for. (Relative clause)

The new teacher is just Ø who we are looking for. (Nominal Relative clause)

Painting is the thing that he doesn´t like. (relative clause)

Painting is Ø what he doesn´t like. (nominal relative clause)

In summary, free relative clauses have no head noun in the main clause and are the result of
either the head noun deletion rule (for adverbial relative clauses) or the free relative
substitution rule that allows who or what to replace a noun and relative pronoun in subject,
object or predicate position.

In Nominal Relative clauses, the wh-item may be:

(i) a pronoun:

She tasted what I bought.

He is who we are looking for.

(ii) a determiner:

She was against whatever suggestion I made.

You should wear whichever dress suits you best.

(iii) an adverb:

Here is where I bought the food.

Yesterday was when I met him.

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According to Quirk et al (1985, p. 1058), Nominal Relative clauses have the same range of
functions as noun phrases. In addition to the functions available generally to nominal clauses,
they can function as indirect object and object complement:

 Subject

What he is looking for is a new job.

Whoever wrote this book is a genius.

Whoever made such a silly comment has not understood the question.

 Direct Object

I want to check what you have done.

You will find what you need in the cupboard.

He gave her children what they wanted.

She saw what food I bought.

 Indirect Object

He gave whoever came to the door a warm smile.

He told the truth to whoever asked.

She bought a present for whomever spent Christmas with her.

 Subject Complement

Sally is who looked after us all this time.

A rest is what I need.
This is what I am.
April is when the lilacs bloom.
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 Object Complement

You can call me what(ever) (names) you like.

You can say it whatever it is.

You should consider them what (ever) (strange) (things) she said.

 Appositive

Let us know your college address: where you live.

Tell me the date of your next exam: when you are sitting for Literature.

I´ll pay you the whole debt: What I originally borrowed and what I owe you in interest.

 Prepositional Complement

Vote for which(ever) candidate you wish.

You should not be interested in whatever she says.

I´m happy with what I am.

I listened to what the candidates had to say.