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  • 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 YouTube channel if you did.

  • If you have any questions about this, please go to www.engvid.com.

  • There's a forum there, you can ask your questions. I'll be happy to answer them. There's also

  • a quiz there that you can practice, and get 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.

Hi. Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam.

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