Noun clauses introduced by

question words

Grammar and usage

I. 名词从句的种类That the earth is round is a fact.

Mrs. Black won’t believe that her son has become a thief.

My idea is that we should do it right now.

I had no idea that you were her friend.

主语从句

宾语从句

表语从句

同位语从句

II. Tell the function of the following sentences.

a. subject b. object c. predicative d. appositive

1.The fact that Great Britain is made up of three countries

is still unknown to many.

2. The question is whether it is worth doing.

3. Some people feel that Wales is an ancient fairy land.

4.That he will come is certain.

5.They realize that it is of great value to record and teach

them to the younger generation.

6.Why he did it wasn’t quite clear.

d

c

b

ba

a

1. I want to know what your first impression of me is.

2. What you said makes me more / less confident about this lesson.

3. I have no idea how I can make a grammar lesson interesting.

4. My question is why you don’t like / like open presentation

object clause 宾语从句

appositive clause 同位语从句

subject clause 主语从句

predicative clause 表语从句

Noun Clauses Introduced by Question Words

Noun Clauses Introduced by Question Words

Southerners find it difficult to understand what northerners are saying.

Southerners find it difficult to understand what are northerners saying.

√

×

•The word order of the noun clause is that of a

statement.( 陈述句 )

•What 、 which 、 who 、 whom 、 whose 、

when 、 where 、 why 、 how

What surprised us most was the way he talked to his parents.

Who will attend the meeting is not decided yet.

This is why I had a few days off.

Noun Clauses Introduced by Question Words

2. The word order of the noun clause is that of a statement .( 陈述句 )

3. Question words act as certain sentence elements( 成分 ) in the clauses.

1. What 、 which 、 who 、 whom 、 whose 、 when 、 where 、 why 、 how

2. The word order of the noun clause is that of a statement .( 陈述句 )

3. Question words act as certain sentence elements ( 成分 ) in the clauses.

4. Question words can’t be left out in noun clauses in any cases.

1. What 、 which 、 who 、 whom 、 whose 、 when 、 where 、 why 、 how

Noun Clauses Introduced by Question Words

1. Where does a person come from? This will affect their style of speech.

= Where a person comes from will affect their style of speech.

wh-question

subject

2.Why does English have such strange rules? You can begin to see it!

=You can begin to see it

why English has such strange rules!

wh-question

object

3.Why is English a langue with so many confusing rules?

This is the reason.

=This is

why English is a language with so many confusing rules.

wh-question

predicative

Attention:

1.We change the word order in a clause after a question word into that of a statement.

2. We cannot leave out the question words in noun clauses in any cases.

Languages keep borrowing words from other languages. This is one of the reasons ___ languages keep changing every day. ____ we should do about ‘borrowed words’ is something people disagree about. In England today, there is no one to decide ____ new words should be included in the language. A standard was first set for the English language when Henry Ⅶ was the King. That is ____ we have the phrase ‘the king’s English’. He set a standard for ______ people were to speak English, but ____ can make a decision like that today is a question.

‘Borrowed Words’-----good or bad?

why

What

which

why/ how

how who

However, there is a department to make decisions like this in France. _____ French will be used is decided by a government department.

Today, the spread of ‘borrowed words’ is due to television and radio programmes from across the world, and the Internet. Some people feel that this spread is good, and others feel it makes languages less special. ______ group you agree with is for you to decide.

‘Borrowed Words’-----good or bad?

How

Which

Empty Subject ‘It’1. That languages borrow words from others as they are developing is interesting.

2. Whether “borrowed words” are good or bad remains a question.

It is interesting that languages borrow words from

others as they are developing.

It remains a question whether “borrowed words” are good or bad.

Assessment :

1. What do you think of today’s English lesson?2. What have you learnt today?

3. What are you still uncertain about?

4. How do you like your performance today?

5. How is the teacher’s performance?

It’s clear that…

We feel it’s interesting or surprising or disappointing that…

What we feel uncertain about is …We have found the fact that …

We think today our performance is …