S V O O, or apposition?

Question

How can I understand this "that"?This is the sentence I'm wondering on:"Fears have also been expressed that justifiable sensitivity to the child's right to use his native dialect within a national variety might lead to the abandonment of a national standard dialect and hence to the further disintegration of English."I'm wondering whether the sentence structure of that sentence is S V O1 O2("that" is O2), or "that" is the apposition with "fears."Could you tell me, please?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

"Fears have also been expressed [ that justifiable sensitivity to the child's right to use his native dialect within a national variety might lead to the abandonment of a national standard dialect and hence to the further disintegration of English ]."

You have a noun clause. It is the complement (object) of the verb "express." [Edit: CJ is right - the clause refers to "Fears"]

This is a complete sentence:
Justifiable sensitivity to the child's right to use his native dialect within a national variety might lead to the abandonment of a national standard dialect and hence to the further disintegration of English

CalifJim · Answer

Takehisa TanakaI'm wondering whether the sentence structure of that sentence is S V O1 O2("that" is O2)

Hmm. I don't see that as the structure. I can't imagine what you're thinking O₁ is. Note that 'have been expressed' is passive, so there cannot be even one object, let alone the two that you seem to see.

Takehisa Tanakaor "that" is the apposition with "fears."

Sort of. Kind of. The 'that' clause is the content clause that says what the fears are. If it weren't so long, it could go right after 'fears' (see below), and thus would be a case of apposition, but I wouldn't call it apposition because it's not immediately after 'fears' in this sentence. I don't whether the methodology you're being taught regards the position as important to the definition of "apposition", so I can't give you an exact answer about that terminology in this case.

Fears [that justifiable sensitivity to the child's right to use his native dialect within a national variety might lead to the abandonment of a national standard dialect and hence to the further disintegration of English] have also been expressed.

CJ

Takehisa Tanaka · Answer

Thanks, CJ.
I've been still learning, so I can't express my question to meet your expectation.
But I understood your explanation.

Takehisa Tanaka · Answer

I got it.
Thanks.

S V O O, or apposition?

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