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Jooney Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
That-clause
Hi,
As far as I know, a "that-clause" cannot come immediately after a preposition.
ex) You can count on that they'll be here on time.(X)
But I recently heard a native speaker say the following:
I'm still bitter about that you were the favorite.
How should I go about understanding this?
I'd appreciate your answer. Thanks.
As far as I know, a "that-clause" cannot come immediately after a preposition.
ex) You can count on that they'll be here on time.(X)
But I recently heard a native speaker say the following:
I'm still bitter about that you were the favorite.
How should I go about understanding this?
I'd appreciate your answer. Thanks.
Top answer
The group of words, "that you were the favorite", functions like a single-word noun. ) This is a little edgy grammatical-wise, but it apparently can be done. " I can think of a number of situations where a that clause can follow a preposition, for example: He put his complete trust in him, for that he was an honest man was well established.
- The group of words, "that you were the favorite", functions like a single-word noun.
- ) This is a little edgy grammatical-wise, but it apparently can be done.
- " I can think of a number of situations where a that clause can follow a preposition, for example: He put his complete trust in him, for that he was an honest man was well established.
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15 Answers
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The group of words, "that you were the favorite", functions like a single-word noun. For example, in the sentence, "That you were the favorite really bothered some people.", "That you were the favorite" functions as a noun and is the subject of the sentence (you could replace "That you were the favorite" with "It."
Therefore, since it is equivalent to a noun, "That you were the favorit
Therefore, since it is equivalent to a noun, "That you were the favorit
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jooneyHi,
As far as I know, a "that-clause" cannot come immediately after a preposition. That's a new rule I never heard of. I don't think it is so much about the prepostion as it is with the context.
ex) You can count on that they'll be here on time.(X)
But I recently hear
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Thank you for the reply, Anon.
But it doesn't really behave like a noun phrase.
<Subject verb agreement>
That she has so few books is rather surprising.
Here, a "that-clause" is always singular. If it were a real noun phrase, the verb form would vary depending on its content, but it doesn't.
<Subject-auxilary inversion>
You
But it doesn't really behave like a noun phrase.
<Subject verb agreement>
That she has so few books is rather surprising.
Here, a "that-clause" is always singular. If it were a real noun phrase, the verb form would vary depending on its content, but it doesn't.
<Subject-auxilary inversion>
You
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Hi DE,
Thank you for the reply.
It says in my grammar book that prepositions do not allow declarative content clauses. In that case, the grammar book suggests that I use "the fact that" as a device for nominalizing clauses.
ex) I'm bitter about the fact that you were the favorite.
Thank you for the reply.
It says in my grammar book that prepositions do not allow declarative content clauses. In that case, the grammar book suggests that I use "the fact that" as a device for nominalizing clauses.
ex) I'm bitter about the fact that you were the favorite.
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The sentence, "Is that she has so few books rather surprising?", is possible. This is a little edgy grammatically, but I could conceive of this being said in certain circumstances. You can't always go strictly by the textbook. A grammar textbook can only cover a very small fraction of the possibilities - less than one one-billionth of one percent - in a language. The rest of the language you h
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Thank you for the reply, Anon.
Yes, I agree with you that grammar rules cover only a small areas of what native speakers actually say and write. Then, my question is how do you decide which "that-clause" can go with a preposition. Can the "that-clause" in my first example be used with a preposition as well?
You can count on that they'll be here on time.
Is this
Yes, I agree with you that grammar rules cover only a small areas of what native speakers actually say and write. Then, my question is how do you decide which "that-clause" can go with a preposition. Can the "that-clause" in my first example be used with a preposition as well?
You can count on that they'll be here on time.
Is this
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"That" clause introduces additional information to the main clause. A clause by definition is a complete grammatical structure, versus a phrase is not by traditional grammar rules. But in some English references, phrases are now called clauses. i.e. dependent clause. So to call it a noun phrase is kind of misleading in my opinion.
You can count on that
You can count on that
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dimsumexpressYou can count on that they'll be here on time. This doesn't sound right to me because the property of "that"is undefined. Is "that" a conjunction ? Or a relative pronoun?Hi.
I agree that it doesn't sound right, but I don't exactly follow your explanation -- nor do I find the green sentence acceptable.
Why does it sound okay if I
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As far as I know, a "that-clause" cannot come immediately after a preposition. I'm inclined to believe that this is a rule. Yes. Native speakers can get quite creative about such things, but in general this is true.
ex) You can count on that they'll be here on time.(X)
But I recently heard a native speaker say the following:
ex) You can count on that they'll be here on time.(X)
But I recently heard a native speaker say the following:
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