Name: 高級英語語法：名詞句 (Advanced English Grammar: Noun Clauses)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T06:23:38.000Z
Duration: 18 min 30 s
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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",

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

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

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,

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,

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?"

"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"

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