Relative Clauses vs. Complement Clauses

Question

CalifJimAnonymousI am a happy personCorrect.CJAnonymousI am happy personNot grammatical.So I am a happy person is true. Right? Exactly this is what I wanted to say. a happy person is a "noun phrase" and it's function in this sentence is : subject complement. Therefore we can put a "noun clause" instead of that because a "noun clause" acts like a noun phrase. But in this untrue sentence : I am sad person there is no "noun phrase" so if we omit "person" and substitute a "that clause" instead of that, on what logical reasons it could be a "noun clause"? Please answer logically with clear reasons.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousSo I am a happy person is true. Right?

Are you a happy person? If so, then it's true that you are a happy person.
But "true" is not what you are interested in. You want to know if the sentence "I am a happy person" is correct. It is.

Anonymousa happy person is a "noun phrase" and it's function in this sentence is : subject complement.

Yes.

AnonymousTherefore we can put a "noun clause" instead of that

I don't know where you get the idea that you can take any sentence and substitute noun clauses for noun phrases in that sentence. Nor where you get the idea that you can substitute noun phrases for noun clauses in any sentence. Some noun clauses (content clauses) are used in special cases where noun phrases don't typically occur. These were listed earlier in this thread. Adjective complements and noun complements.

I don't know what you consider a logical reason, but according to what you have already said, I suppose you don't think that it is logical to say that adjective complements and noun complements are noun clauses. Well, maybe it's not logical, but that's the way it is.

No matter whether you can replace a that-clause with a noun phrase or not, if the words after 'that' make a complete finite clause, grammarians say it's a noun clause (also called a content clause).

CJ

Relative Clauses vs. Complement Clauses

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