Hi. Welcome to www.engvid.com.
I'm Adam. In today's video we're going to
look at some more advanced grammar. We're going to look at the noun clause.
Now, you may have seen my previous video where I did an introduction
to subordinate clauses. Today I'm going to look at only one, only the noun clause, get
a little bit deeper into it, show you some examples, show you how it works, how
to build it, when to use it, etc. So before we begin, let's review: What is a
clause? A clause is a combination of words that must contain a subject and a verb. Okay?
Now, every sentence has at least one independent clause. The noun clause is a dependent clause. Okay?
I'm going to write that here. It's a dependent. What that means is that this clause cannot
be a sentence by itself. It is always part of a sentence that contains an independent
clause, but the noun clause can be part of the independent clause, and we're
going to see that in a moment. But before we do that, we also have to look
at the conjunctions. Okay? So these are the words... The conjunctions are the words that
join the noun clause to its independent clause or that begin the noun clause. Okay? And again,
we're going to look at examples. So these are the ones you need to know: "that", "which",
"who", "whom", "whose", "what", "if", "whether", "when", "where", "how", "why", and then: "whoever", "whomever", "whenever",
"wherever", "whatever", "whichever". These can all be conjunctions. Now,
you have to be careful with a few of them. Some of these can also be conjunctions to
adjective clauses, which will be a different video lesson entirely. And you also have to
remember that this clause in particular: "that", is quite often removed. Means it's understood to
be there, it's implied, but we don't actually have to write it or say it when we're using
the noun clause. And again, we're going to look at examples of that. Another thing to remember is that only some
of these can be both the conjunction, the thing that starts the clause, and the
subject of the clause. So, for example: "which" can be the subject,
"who" can be the subject, "whom" is always an
object, never a subject, and "what" can be the subject. "Who", "whoever",
"whatever", "whichever" can also be subjects. So I'm going to put an "s" for these. Okay? So
it's very important to remember these because sometimes you have to recognize that it is both
the conjunction and the clause, and recognize it as a noun clause. Now, of course, it will
be much easier to understand all this when we see actual examples,
so let's do that. Okay, so now we're going to look at when to
use the noun clause and how to use the noun clause. So, noun clauses have basically four
uses. Okay? Or actually five, but one of them is similar. First of all we're going
to look at it as the subject. So, a noun clause can be the subject
of a clause, of an independent clause. So let's look at this example: "What she wore
to the party really turned some heads." So, what is the noun clause? "What she wore to
the party". Okay? So here's our conjunction, here's our subject, and here's our verb. Okay?
And then here's another verb. Now, remember: In every sentence, you're going to have one tense
verb, will have one subject that corresponds to it. Here I have two tense verbs, which
means I need two subjects. So the subject for "wore" is "she", the subject for "turned"
is the entire clause. This is the noun clause subject to this verb. Okay? Turned what? Some
heads. And, here, we have the object of the whole sentence. So this sentence is essentially
SVO, so we have an independent clause, but the subject of the independent clause is a noun
clause. So although you have one independent clause, this is still a complex sentence because
we're using an independent and the subordinate, and the dependent clause to build it. Now,
here, the conjunction is separate from the subject itself. We're going to
look at other examples soon. Here: "Whoever wants to know should ask me."
So, if you're not sure about what's going on with clauses, a good hint, a good way to
understand any sentence is to first of all identify the verbs. Now, it doesn't mean identify
all the verbs. Identify all the tense verbs. So in this case we have "wants", and here we
have an infinitive, so this is not a tense verb. It's just an infinitive verb. And here we
have "should ask". Now, a modal is considered part of the tense verb, it's part of the main
verb of a clause. So now I have two verbs, of course I need to subjects. So,
here's my subject for "wants", and here is my subject to "should ask". Who should ask me?
Whoever wants to know. Okay? So I still have a noun clause as the subject
for the main verb, and this is your object, and "wants" also has
its own object. So, the whole SVO, SVP, SVA applies
whether you're in a dependent clause or whether you're in an independent clause. And
if your noun clause is part of the independent clause, all the rules still apply. Think of
this as one subject with its verb and object. Here's your subject, verb, and object, and they
work together. So, noun clause as subject. Now, we're going to look at the next
example. Here we have noun clause as object, or subject complement. Just to refresh your memory: An object
answers the question what or whom about the verb. A subject complement answers
what or whom about the subject. So, let's look at the first example. So: "Please
ask mom what we're having for dinner." So, what is the subject here? Of course "you",
because this is an imperative. Ask who? Mom. This is indirect object. I hope you can see
"i.o." indirect object. Now, please ask mom what? What should you ask her? What we are having
for dinner. So, here we have our conjunction "what", here we have our subject "we", "are
having" is our verb, and "for dinner" is your adverb. Okay? So now this whole thing is the
object... Let me try to not make it too messy, here. Object to the verb "ask". Okay. Subject,
verb, object, conjunction, subject, verb, and then we have our adverb there.
But we're working on an object. Here's another example: "Do you know", so
now we're looking at it as a question. And this is one of the things that you have to
be careful about. Noun clauses are clauses, they're not questions. So when you see the
word "what" it doesn't mean necessarily that it's a question. A good hint, a good way to
understand that it's not a question, that it's a noun clause is that the subject comes
before the verb. In a question, the verb... The subject... The verb will come before the
subject. "What are we having for dinner?" Okay. "Do you know if she's coming?" So: "Do you
know", so "you" is the subject, "know" is the verb. Know what? So now you need an
object to the verb "know", so there it is. Well, without the question mark, but you understand
that. "...if she is coming?" "If" is the conjunction, subject is "she", "is coming" is your verb. And
you have a full clause, and the full clause acts as the object to "know".
So far so good. Now, when do we use a subject complement?
Generally when we have a "be" verb as your main verb or any copular or linking verb,
like: "seem", "appears", or "looks like". These are not action verbs. They're just situation
verbs, and so we use them like a "be" verb, like an equal sign. And we're
talking about the subject. So: "Paul isn't..." So, "Paul" is your
subject, "is not" is your verb. Is not what? "...what is generally considered handsome." Subject,
verb, verb, split up. Okay? "Considered handsome" is what? The object to "considered". But... So:
"is considered handsome" is the subject complement, tells you about Paul. Paul is
like not handsome. But not... You can't say not directly handsome, just most people look
at him, they wouldn't think he's a handsome person, general idea. Okay? But again, subject,
verb, subject, complement. Subject, verb, object, etc. Subject, verb, object, or whatever.
As... You must understand how the independent clause works in order to be able to use the
noun clauses properly in their positions. But so far we've looked at noun clause as
subject, noun clause as object, noun clause as subject complement. We still have to look
at two more uses of the noun clause. Let's look at those now. Okay, so now we're going to look at the other
two types of noun clauses, or the other two uses of the noun clause. The first one we're
going to look at is the object again, but this time we're looking at the object of a
preposition. So, in this case, what is a preposition? Words like "for", "about", "to", so these are
prepositions, and prepositions take objects. So we can use a noun clause as
an object to a preposition. "Sarah should not be held responsible for..."
so now I'm giving you an explanation what she shouldn't be responsible for. "...for
what her brother does." So, again, here's your noun clause. And it is the object of "for".
And the whole expression with a preposition is a complement to "be held responsible". I'm
completing the meaning. But this is not... This is where you have to be careful. It's not
an object to the verb: "should not be held", it's an object to the
preposition "for". Here's another example, and here I'm going to
have two. So sometimes remember an object... A sentence can have many objects, just
like a noun clause can be used many times. "It's more a question of..." so here's your preposition.
"...of whom she said it to than..." and here's... This is another preposition. "...than why she
said it." So, whom she said it to is more the thing we need to understand more than why
she said it. But again, it doesn't matter because here's your... Here's your first one.
Here's your first noun clause. Notice I'm using "whom" because it's "to whom". Okay?
And: "than why she said it", so here's another noun clause object. Object here, object here.
It doesn't matter what preposition you're using, but if it needs an object,
you can use a noun clause for that. And then we have the adjective complement.
Adjective complement. So sometimes we have a sentence that's complete, but then we want to
give a bit more information because although the sentence is complete, the idea is complete,
it needs more information. So... I shouldn't say that. The idea is not necessarily complete,
but the sentence is complete and can stand on its own. It's an independent. So: "I am happy", a complete sentence. "I am
happy", it's a complete idea as well, but there are many reasons to be happy, so I want
to give more information to make it a more complete idea. So then I can add in a noun
clause with "that". Now, you notice I put it between brackets. Why?
Because I can take it out. "I am happy that you've
decided to come." or: "I'm happy you've decided to come."
Now, more often than not, people will take this out. Why? Because extra words. We don't
need them. You will understand it's there. Just concentrate on what I'm saying. So, again,
subject, verb, "to come", object. All of this is giving me more information about the happy.
Happy why? That you've decided to come. "I'm unsure", "I am unsure", again, complete
sentence, technically, but there's a reason you're not sure. Right? So you want to
complete this idea with a noun clause. "I'm unsure if he's coming." Conjunction. Now, be
careful, "if" is also an adverb conjunction. But this is not an adverb situation, this is a noun
clause, conjunction, subject, verb, that's it. Complete clause. Now, one last thing I want to mention: Remember
I said a noun clause can be a subject, it can be an object, so you can have a sentence
that the subject is a noun clause and the object is a noun clause. So it looks
very complicated, but it's not. "That she might be right", this is your noun clause subject, "is"
is your main verb, "what frightens me." Noun clause again as subject complement. "Her
being right scares me." is another way to say it. But some people like to have very
fancy, very long sentences. And again, why would I write: "That she might be right
is what frightens me" and not if... "It's scary that she might be right." Like, with
this kind of sentence. Both are okay. This one will be more emphatic. People will listen
to this sentence or read this sentence with more attention, because it's long, because
you started a sentence with "That" which is not very common. So you're forcing something.
You're forcing the reader, if it's written, to take attention, to give attention. Not
very commonly used in spoken English, but it is sometimes. In written
English, much more common. Last sentence: "How you go about doing your
work should not affect when you get it done." "How you go about doing your work", so how
you work... Your... "...should not affect", this is your main verb. "...when you get it
done." I don't care how you do your work, that's not important. How you do it is how
you do it. When you finish is more important to me. And how you do it should have no bearing,
should have no affect on when you finish it, if you finish it at the deadline. But again,
we're not too worried about the meaning right now, we're worried about the structure. Noun
clause subject, main verb, noun clause object, complete sentence. This whole thing is technically
an independent clause, but again, it's considered a complex sentence because it uses both simp-...
Sorry. Independent and dependent clauses to build it. Now, I've given you a lot of information today.
I know it might be a little bit confusing. Make sure that you have a bit of background.
There's a good lesson I did on the sentence types: simple, compound, complex, compound-complex,
so four sentence types. You should review that video, it will help a little bit with
this as well. And this might also help you understand that lesson. I also did an introduction
lesson to dependent clauses. If you want, you can review that. This gets a little bit
more detail. Of course, I will also make videos about the adjective clause and the adverb
clause. They will come later, you will see those. And there's also going to be a lesson
about the... Or there is a lesson about the independent clause, where I explain all the
pieces in a little bit more detail. This is advanced grammar, but if you're going to be
writing, you need to know this stuff. And if you have some problems reading, especially
if you're taking a test, IELTS, TOEFL, CAE, whatever test you're taking, if you're having
problems with some of the readings - knowing how to identify clauses will help you a lot
in understanding what is written there. Okay? So, I hope this is all clear.
I hope you like this lesson. Please subscribe to my
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some more examples of noun clauses, and make sure you understand them. And of course, come back, get a
lot more great lessons at engVid, and see you again soon. Bye-bye.
