10. Noun Clause

Noun Clauses

Ever since you first toddled into a school house door, your teachers have been telling you that a noun is a person, place or thing.

Unfortunately, some erudite linguists have demonstrated that such a definition is entirely too simple.

But since we aren�t linguists, we will lock those fellows in the closet (metaphorically speaking, of course) and hang on to the definition we know: A noun is a person place or thing.

Remember

1. A noun is a part of speech.

2. Subjects and objects are parts of a sentence.

3. Nouns function as subjects or objects.

4. Therefore: Nouns = subjects or objects.

Example:

The burrito gave me heartburn.

("Burrito" and "heartburn" are the nouns in this sentence. "Gave" is the verb and "burrito" is the subject.)

But What About This One?

What I had for breakfast gave me heartburn.

(The verb is still "gave," but the subject is a noun clause: "What I had for breakfast.")

A sentence like the one above sends some people to the aspirin bottle.

Why isn�t the subject "I"?

Why isn�t it "breakfast"?

Remember

To find the subject of a sentence, locate the verb and ask who or what about the verb.

In the sentence above, ask "what gave me heartburn?"

"I"? clearly not.

"Breakfast"? not exactly.

"What I had for breakfast"? Right.

"But wait," you say. "I thought a noun was a person place or thing"?

It is. Think about "what I had for breakfast" as being a thing or things.

Let's look at some more examples:

(the noun clauses are underlined)

What the English teacher said was downright inspiring.

(This noun clause is used as a subject.)

The wonderful thing about English teachers is that they all get along so well.

(This noun clause is used as a subject complement)

I must decide which English course to take.

(This noun clause is used as a direct object.)

English teachers dispense wisdom to whoever will listen.

(This noun clause is the object of a preposition)

By now it is becoming clear that lots of dependent signals introduce noun clauses.

Below is a list.

Dependent signals which introduce noun clauses

Who Whom

Whose Which

That if

Whether What

When Where

How Why

And various forms of "-ever":

Whoever Whenever

Whatever Wherever

Notice

Lots of these words are flexible. They can do different things in different sentences.

Let's look at some more examples:

Don't all students wish they knew more grammar?

(Be careful here. The dependent signal, "that," is implied.)

The students don't know whether or not they can stay awake during the lecture.

(This is a noun clause used as a direct object)

Although I respected what the teacher said, I disagreed with his conclusion.

(Wow, this is tricky. This is a noun clause inside an adverb clause. The adverb clause is "Although I respected what the teacher said." The verb of the clause is "respected." The subject of the clause is "I." The direct object of the clause is "what the teacher said.")

Anyone who says that English teachers are boring will be punished.

(This is another tricky one. This is a noun clause inside an adjective clause. The adjective clause is "who says that English teachers are boring." The verb of the adjective clause is "says." The subject of the clause is "who." The object of the adjective clause is "that English teachers are boring." Isn't that neat? Doesn't that make you want to become an English teacher? Or at least marry one?)

9. Used To

USED TO

Used to do

We use 'used to' for something that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens.

·         I used to smoke a packet a day but I stopped two years ago.

·         Ben used to travel a lot in his job but now, since his promotion, he doesn't.

·         I used to drive to work but now I take the bus.

We also use it for something that was true but  no longer is.

·         There used to be a cinema in the town but now there isn't.

·         She used to have really long hair but she's had it all cut off.

·         I didn't use to like him but now I do.

'Used to do' is different from 'to be used to doing' and 'to get used to doing'

to be used to doing

We use 'to be used to doing' to say that something is normal, not unusual.

·         I'm used to living on my own. I've done it for quite a long time.

·         Hans has lived in England for over a year so he is used to driving on the left now.

·         They've always lived in hot countries so they aren't used to the cold weather here.

to get used to doing

We use 'to get used to doing' to talk about the process of something becoming normal for us.

·         I didn't understand the accent when I first moved here but I quickly got used to it.

·         She has started working nights and is still getting used to sleeping during the day.

·         I have always lived in the country but now I'm beginning to get used to living in the city.

8. Conjunctions

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.

Here are some example conjunctions:

Coordinating Conjunctions	Subordinating Conjunctions
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so	although, because, since, unless

We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.

Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:

• Single Word
  for example: and, but, because, although
• Compound (often ending with as or that)
  for example: provided that, as long as, in order that
• Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)
  for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":

• Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
  - Jack and Jill went up the hill.
  - The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.
• Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example:
  - I went swimming although it was cold.

Position

• Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.
• Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.

In this lesson we will look in more detail at:

• Coordinating Conjunctions

7. Arguing

Argument

navigationsearchThis article is about the subject as it is studied in logic and philosophy. For other uses, see Argument (disambiguation).

In logic and philosophy, an argument is an attempt to persuade someone of something, by giving reasons for accepting a particular conclusion as evident.^[1][2] The general structure of an argument in a natural language is that of premises (typically in the form of propositions, statements or sentences) in support of a claim: the conclusion.^[3][4][5] The structure of some arguments can also be set out in a formal language, and formally-defined "arguments" can be made independently of natural language arguments, as in math, logic and computer science.

In a typical deductive argument, the premises are meant to provide a guarantee of the truth of the conclusion, while in an inductive argument, they are thought to provide reasons supporting the conclusion's probable truth.^[6] The standards for evaluating non-deductive arguments may rest on different or additional criteria than truth, for example, the persuasiveness of so-called "indispensability claims" in transcendental arguments,^[7] the quality of hypotheses in retroduction, or even the disclosure of new possibilities for thinking and acting.^[8]

The standards and criteria used in evaluating arguments and their forms of reasoning are studied in logic.^[9] Ways of formulating arguments effectively are studied in rhetoric (see also: argumentation theory). An argument in a formal language shows the logical form of the symbolically-represented or natural language arguments obtained by its interpretations.

Definition of ARGUING

intransitive verb

1

: to give reasons for or against something : reason <argue for a new policy>

2

: to contend or disagree in words : dispute <argue about money>

transitive verb

1

: to give evidence of : indicate <the facts argue his innocence>

2

: to consider the pros and cons of : discuss <argue an issue>

3

: to prove or try to prove by giving reasons : maintain <asking for a chance to argue his case>

4

: to persuade by giving reasons : induce <couldn't argue her out of going>

— ar·gu·er noun

See argue defined for English-language learners »

See argue defined for kids »

Examples of ARGUE

1. She argued against the proposed law.
2. The senator argued in favor of lowering taxes.
3. He's always willing to argue for what is right.
4. She argued that the proposed law should be defeated.
5. He argued that it's far too early to make a decision.
6. No one can argue me out of doing this.
7. They started arguing about politics.
8. She would argue with anyone.

Origin of ARGUE

Middle English, from Anglo-French arguer to reprove, argue & Latin arguere to demonstrate, prove; Anglo-French arguer, from Latin argutare to prate, frequentative of arguere; akin to Hittite arkuwai- to plead, respond

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to ARGUE

Synonyms

assert, contend, maintain, plead, reason

Antonyms

disprove, rebut, refute

Related Words

adduce, cite, mention; claim, insist; affirm, aver, avouch, avow; advance, give, offer, propose, submit; advise, counsel, recommend, suggest, urge; convince, persuade; advocate, champion, defend, enforce, espouse, support; explain, justify, rationalize; consider, debate, discuss; confute, counter, disprove, rebut, refute

Near Antonyms

coexist, get along; accept, agree, assent, concur, consent