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Debpriya De Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Nominal wh- clause

I read it somewhere that when we change a wh-question into a nominal clause, the word order is changed. For example, "Who is this ?" becomes "May I know who this is ?"
But in some cases the word order remains the same, for example "Who is responsible for this ?"
"I know who is responsible for this."
My question is, why can't we write "May I know who is this ?", because in this case the "who is this" also seems to be an acceptable nominal clause ?
  

Top answer

Can you see a pattern? Who threw the ball? I know who threw the ball.

— Mister Micawber

  • Can you see a pattern?
  • Who threw the ball?
  • I know who threw the ball.
  • Can you tell me who threw the ball?
  • Who is ready?
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15 Answers
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Can you see a pattern?

Who threw the ball?
I know who threw the ball.
Can you tell me who threw the ball?

Who is ready?
I know who is ready.
Can you tell me who is ready?

Who are you talking to?
I know who you are talking to.
Can you tell me who you are talking to?

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Yes, I see the pattern. But my point is, if "who is ready" is accepted as a noun clause, then why is

"who is this" not accepted as a noun clause ?
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Debpriya DeYes, I see the pattern. But my point is, if "who is ready" is accepted as a noun clause, then why is"who is this" not accepted as a noun clause ?
this is a subject; ready is not a subject. Subjects in red. Element questioned underlined.

This is
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@CJ, in the first sentence, when we are questioning the complement, we write "who this is" as the noun clause. But what if we question the subject in the first sentence. Then , can we write "who is this" as the noun clause ?
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You cannot write "may I know who is this?" because when using who and whom, there are certain rules to follow. Who is always subject case. Whom is always object case. So, in your sentence I is the subject, know is the action verb, and what do you want to know? The anwser is "who is this" BUT really you want to say "may I know whom this is?".
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"You guys are doing a drama on Alexander next week. Who is Alexander in the drama ?
Now, the noun clause for the underlined sentence could be "I don't know who is Alexander in the drama." but we don't say "I don't know who Alexander is in the drama."
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I don't know who Alexander is in the drama.-- This is what we say.
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By "Who is Alexander in the drama ?", I meant "Who is playing Alexander in the drama ?"

So shouldn't the emphasis be on "who" when we write it as a noun clause, because "I don't know who Alexander is in the drama" and "I don't know who is Alexander in the drama" have different meanings ?
The first sentence means that I don't know who this character is in the drama, whereas the second
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Debpriya De@CJ, in the first sentence, when we are questioning the complement, we write "who this is" as the noun clause. But what if we question the subject in the first sentence. Then , can we write "who is this" as the noun clause ?
If you could question the subject, then yes, you could write the noun clause as who is this. But you can
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Okay, I get it now. Thanks everyone.
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