That clause ?

Question

Hello,Are you positive (that) you saw me switch the iron off?           Is  "that clause" identified  as 'Noun clause' or 'Adverb clause' ?TasmanTiger

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

It complements 'positive', which is an adjective, but Quirk et al. call it a nominal clause.

TasmanTiger · Answer

Thanks , MM

Why does he call it ' nominal ' ?

TT

Anonymous · Answer

TasmanTiger
Thanks , MM

Why does he call it ' nominal ' ?

TT

Hi,

The nominal clause functions like a noun or noun phrase; nominal clause can be a subject, object or complement in a sentence. (from Latin: nome = name)

TasmanTiger · Answer

Are you positive (that) you saw me switch the iron off?

I'm talking about 'that clause' of this sentence.

Why is 'that clause' called as 'nominal clause' ?

As you can see, it is not used as subject, object or complement.

TT

Mister Micawber · Answer

I have already told you that it is a complement of 'positive'.  As to why Quirk calls it nominal, you'll have to ask him.

Anonymous · Answer

TasmanTiger
Are you positive (that) you saw me switch the iron off?

I'm talking about 'that clause' of this sentence.

Why is 'that clause' called as 'nominal clause' ?

As you can see, it is not used as subject, object or complement.

TT

Hi,

Just switch to the statment to see that the nominal clause is a part of the complement here:

'You are positive (that) you saw me switch the iron off, aren't you?', where 'You' is a subject, 'are' the linking verb, and the adjective + that-clause: 'positive (that) you saw me switch the iron off' is a complent.

TasmanTiger · Answer

I'm happy (that) everything is working out for you.

Is 'that clause' identified as 'nominal clause'?

TT

Anonymous · Answer

TasmanTiger
I'm happy (that) everything is working out for you.

Is 'that clause' identified as 'nominal clause'?

TT

Yes. Nominal clause = noun clause, i.e. a clause which function like a noun or a noun phrase. In my opinion, it substitutes the pattern 'adjective + preposition': happy about/with ('I'm happy with that that everything is working out for you' where that-clause: 'that everything is working out for you' is in apposition to the pronoun 'that' in the prepositional phrase 'with that').

TasmanTiger · Answer

Thank you so much, Anonymous

Good day !

TT

BillJ · Answer

TasmanTiger I'm happy (that) everything is working out for you.
Is 'that clause' identified as 'nominal clause'?

Yes, in traditional grammar clauses introduced by "that" are called noun (or nominal) clauses because they function like nouns, not because they actually are nouns. In other words they are found in places where you'd typically expect to find a noun operating, such as subject, object etc.

But the definition is seriously flawed because not all 'noun clauses' are replaceable by nouns. In your example, the clause is complement to the adjective "happy", but you could hardly replace it with a noun could you? In fact, there is no adjective in English that allows a choice between a clause and a noun as its complement.

In modern grammar, the term 'noun clause' has come to be replaced with 'content clause', which is far more meaningful. In fact content clauses represent the default kind of finite subordinate clause.

So, your example is best described as a content clause functioning as complement to the adjective "happy".

BillJ

That clause ?

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