...what he thinks

Question

That is what he thinks.Is what he thinks an adjectival or nominal complement in the sentence above?--------------------------------I think it is a nominal one.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

"What he thinks" has a noun-like function. In this linking verb type of sentence, it has the same meaning as the subject, that is, "That" = "what he thinks".

BillJ · Answer

That is what he thinks.

It's certainly not adjectival. With the specifying sense of "be", it is possible to have both a fused relative construction, (in which case "what he thinks" would be a noun phrase), and a subordinate interrogative clause (embedded question).

In your particular example it is an interrogative where the subject "that" gives the value of the variable in "He thinks x", the propositional content of the embedded question – i.e. it gives the answer to the question What does he think?

Think of it like this: "That is the answer to the question 'What does he think?'"

...what he thinks

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions