ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) NOTES-PAGE 35 NOUN CLAUSES DEFINITION: A NOUN CLAUSE is a subordinate clause which is used as a noun in the sentence. It may be a subject, a complement (direct object, indirect object, or predicate nominative), or the object of a preposition. EXAMPLES: 1.) pro pro av av pro What he said surprised me. (The noun clause What he said acts as the subject of the verb surprised. ) he said What surprised me 2.) art n hv lv pro av The champion will be whoever wins. (The noun clause whoever wins acts as the predicate nominative of will be. ) whoever wins champion The will be 3.) pn av pro adj n lv Jane knows what your secret is. (The noun clause what your secret is is the direct object of knows. ) secret is what your Jane knows 4.) pro hv av pro av art n I will give whoever comes a ticket. (The noun clause whoever comes is the indirect object of give. ) I will give ticket a whoever comes (over) 189
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) NOTES - PAGE 36 5.) pro av n pp pro lv p-adj She brings food (to whoever is ill.) (The noun clause whoever is ill is the object of the preposition to. ) She brings food to whoever is ill Noun clauses are usually introduced by the following pronouns: that what who whom whatever whoever whomever And sometimes by the following adverbs: where when why how wherever whenever whyever however THESE INTRODUCTORY WORDS HAVE NO SPECIAL NAME OF THEIR OWN; JUST PARSE THEM EITHER PRO OR ADV. IMPORTANT NOTE: Most of the time the introductory word has some job to do in the clause (see the above diagrams); however, sometimes (with the word that ) it has no function in the clause at all. Its only function is to connect the subordinate clause to the main clause. EXAMPLE: pro av pro pro lv p-adj She thought that I was sick. that I was sick She thought 190
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) EXERCISE #1 NOUN CLAUSES: EXERCISE #1 NAME: DATE: DIRECTIONS: Parse the sentences below. Underline the noun clauses. Diagram the sentences and, to the side of your diagram, indicate what job each clause is doing. 1. What the club wanted was a spook house. 2. His message was that he would not be home for dinner. 3. A guide pointed to where the picture was. 4. The teacher gave whoever had read the story a short quiz. 5. Tammy always had a cheery hello for whomever she knew. 6. Whoever guesses the correct number of jellybeans will win a prize. 7. The outcome of the whole thing is what really matters. 8. A beekeeper explained to us how honey is made. 9. That she was not coming was quite obvious. 10. We were astonished by what happened here yesterday. (over) 191
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) EXERCISE #2 NOUN CLAUSES: EXERCISE #2 NAME: DATE: DIRECTIONS: Below each sentence, underline and identify every phrase (participial, gerund, infinitive, or appositive) and every clause (adjective, adverb, or noun). If it s doing a job, write what job it s doing; if it s modifying something, write what it s modifying. If one phrase or clause modifies another, don't worry about double underlining. You can treat them separately. EXAMPLE: When he heard Maria's speech, Mark felt that he should try harder. (Adverb clause - modifies "felt") (Noun clause - direct object) 1. What he does best is playing the piano. 2. Mr. Allen is the man who taught us origami. 3. Screaming with fear, Jenny sat up suddenly when the tent collapsed. 4. My brother s family, our favorite relatives, surprise us whenever they arrive on time. 5. I could not understand what the directions said to do before entering the restricted area. 6. Where we sat was the row of seats located near the exit. 7. Wolfman Jack, who was a disc jockey, loved to play old songs on The Midnight Special. 8. The oranges that we picked when we were in Florida were very juicy. 9. Gene, a thoughtful person, brought sandwiches for whoever was hungry. 10. Horses, considered stupid by many people, have strong feelings about where they go. 193
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) EXERCISE #3 NOUN CLAUSES: EXERCISE #3 NAME: DATE: DIRECTIONS: Below each sentence, underline and identify every phrase (participial, gerund, infinitive, or appositive) and every clause (adjective, adverb, or noun). If it s doing a job, write what job it s doing; if it s modifying something, write what it s modifying. It would probably be best to use a separate sheet of paper and copy the phrases and clauses out, since this is what will be required on the test. 1. Joe, who was Mary s partner in the dance contest, refused to leave the dance floor when the judge tapped him on the shoulder. 2. Professor Watkins, lecturing about the Amazon, absentmindedly left the room after the break because he thought the class was over. 3. The argument was all about what Teresa had said when Jill told her a joke. 4. Although they were already exhausted, the first string players stayed in the game because the score was tied. 5. Jason, who is taller than Kyle, thinks that it would be funny if he played the part of Scarlett O Hara in the Gone With the Wind parody. 6. Saving the environment had become an obsession with Tracy, whom I was telling you about. 7. Karen, burdened with a huge pile of books, was staggering down the hall, and Kevin, who is very thoughtful, offered to help her out. 8. I turned around and only had a moment to see a shadow, which I felt was that of a man, flitting past the open doorway. 195
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) TEST NOUN CLAUSES: TEST NAME: DATE: (RAW SCORE: GRADE: ) /80 DIRECTIONS: PART I: On a separate sheet of paper, write out the entire subordinate clause in each sentence below. Write what kind of a clause it is. If it is a noun clause, write what job it is doing. If it is an adjective or adverb clause, write what word it modifies. 1. Len claims that he knows judo. 2. Amy blushed when she read the letter. 3. The bait that worked best was shrimp. 4. Everyone who travels needs a map. 5. No one saw Diane after she left practice. 6. The wolf attacked because it was trapped. 7. The robot will do whatever you ask. 8. The test, which was quite hard, lasted one hour. 9. We went to the circus when it came to town. 10. What I like best is talking on the phone with friends. 11. The champion beat whomever he fought. 12. A person who designs buildings is an architect. 13. Kenny Loggins is the one who plays guitar. 14. Whoever returns the stolen jewels will get a reward. 15. The dog followed Jeff wherever he went. 16. Although she prefers hockey, Grace plays center on the basketball team. 17. Many people watch television because they are bored. 18. We could see the lake from where we stood. 19. Slavery was what divided the country. 20. Radar, which locates distant objects, is used to track spacecraft. (over) 197
ANALYTICAL GRAMMAR (UNIT #17) TEST - PAGE 2 PART II: DIRECTIONS: On this test paper, copy out the clauses (adjective, adverb, or noun) and phrases (participial, gerund, infinitive, or appositive) that you find in the sentences below. Identify what kind of clause or phrase it is. (These sentences were taken from "The Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) BE SURE TO COPY OUT THE ENTIRE PHRASE OR CLAUSE!!! (If the phrase or clause is too long to fit on the line provided below, write the first word of it, and ellipses [...], and the last word). EXAMPLE: On the night of Sir Charles's death, Barrymore the butler, who made the discovery, sent Perkins the groom on horseback to me. (3 items in this sentence) Example "the butler" Appositive phrase Example "who...discovery" Adjective clause Example "the groom" Appositive phrase 1. I whisked round and had just time to catch a glimpse of something which I took to be a large black calf passing at the head of the drive. (4 items in this sentence) 2 A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound, but not such a hound as mortal eyes have ever seen. (2 items in this sentence). 3. With long bounds the huge black creature was leaping down the track, following hard upon the footsteps of our friend. (1 item in this sentence) 4. Never have I seen a man run as Holmes ran that night. (1 item in this sentence) 5. The gleam of the match which he struck shone upon his clotted fingers and upon the ghastly pool which widened from the crushed skull of the victim. (2 items in this sentence) (Up to 5 points extra credit for correctly diagraming sentence #5 in Part II) SENTENCE # WORD GROUP IDENTIFICATION 2 2 3 4 5 5 198