Content clause

In grammar, a content clause is a

dependent clause that provides content
implied or commented upon by an
independent clause. The term was coined
by Danish linguist Otto Jespersen. Content
clauses are also known as noun clauses.
English

In English, there are two main kinds of

content clauses: declarative content
clauses (or that-clauses), which
correspond to declarative sentences, and
interrogative content clauses, which
correspond to interrogative sentences.

Declarative content clauses

Declarative content clauses can have a

number of different grammatical roles.
They often serve as direct objects of verbs
of reporting, cognition, perception, and so
on. In this use, the conjunction that may
head the clause, but is often omitted:

He told her (that) she was smart.

She thought (that) he was friendly.
I hear (that) they've started dating.
They wish (that) they had met earlier.

Similarly with certain verb-like adjectives:

I'm not sure (that) he was right.

Convinced (that) he could manage it
without help, he decided to proceed.

They also often serve as complements of

nouns—both nouns corresponding to the
above verbs, and nouns like fact, idea, and
so on. Here, that is almost always
included:

... our hope that someday the whole

world will know peace ...
... the fact that all matter obeys the same
physical laws ...
... the idea that a son would do such a
thing to his father ...

Finally, they can serve as subjects, as

complements of predicative adjectives in
clauses with linking verbs or in small
clauses or as object complements. In this
latter use, they are commonly postponed
to the end of their main clause, with an
expletive it standing in their original place
as subject:

It startled me that the students were so

advanced.
It is important that we remember this
day.
I find it sad that he doesn't know the
answer.
It annoys me that she does that.

Here as before, a conjunction is almost

always included, although it does not need
to be that:

I like (it) when she comes to visit.

 It bothers me how she doesn't care what
he wants.

Interrogative content clauses

Interrogative content clauses, often called

indirect questions, can be used in many of
the same ways as declarative ones; for
example, they are often direct objects of
verbs of cognition, reporting, and
perception, but here they emphasize
knowledge or lack of knowledge of one
element of a fact:

I know what you did.

I can't guess how he managed it.
I wonder whether I looked that bad.
 She asked where the files were.

Such clauses correspond to direct

questions, which are questions actually
asked. The direct questions corresponding
to the examples above are What did you
do? How did he manage it? Did I look that
bad? Where are the files? Notice how, in
English (and in some other languages),
different syntax is used in direct and
indirect questions: direct questions
normally use subject-verb inversion, while
indirect questions do not. Reported
questions (as in the last of the examples)
are also subject to the tense and other
changes that apply generally in indirect
speech. For more information see
interrogative mood and English grammar.

Indirect questions can serve as adjective

and noun complements. Here, in English,
they are generally introduced by a
preposition, especially of:

… the question (of) who was responsible

…
… his curiosity over how it happened …
… sure of what he had seen …

Like declarative content clauses, they are

often postponed to the end of their main
clause, with an expletive it standing in their
original place, when they serve as the
subject of a verb, or as the direct object of
a verb that links them to a predicative:

It is not known where they came from.

I find it encouraging how many young
women are pursuing careers in science.

See also

Direct discourse
Embedded clause
Propositional attitude
Quotation
Slifting
External links

The difference between the terms

content clause and complement clause
(http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languag
elog/archives/001317.html)
The use of the conjunction if to
introduce content clauses (http://itre.ci
s.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archive
s/003150.html)

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