The Noun Clause.

A noun clause is a collection of words containing all the essential parts of a sentence, and performing the office of a noun to the principal clause; as, 'I see that you understand.'

Here the clause 'that you understand' answers the question, 'What do you see?' The clause 'that you understand' therefore expresses the thing you see, as a noun expresses a thing. Noun clauses are of two kinds-subject and object.

The subject and object of all clauses must be nouns or equivalents of nouns; and the equivalent of a noun may be a noun clause.

A noun-subject clause takes the place of the subject to the predicate of the principal clause in a complex sentence. For example

'That you have wronged me doth appear in this.'

In this case the noun-subject clause, 'That you have wronged me,' stands in the place of a noun, and forms the subject to the predicate of the principal clause, 'doth appear.' It will be seen, however, that the noun clause has its own subject and predicate.

The noun-subject clause always answers the question What? in regard to the predicate of the principal clause; thus, 'What doth appear?' 'That you have wronged me,' noun-subject clause.

The noun-subject clause frequently follows the predicate of which it forms the subject, the impersonal pronoun 'it' standing in apposition with it, and preceding the predicate; thus, 'It never occurred to me that they might need this,' 'It is well that the dispute is settled.'

The noun-object clause stands in the place of a noun as object to the predicate in the principal clause.

The object of every transitive verb must be a noun or its equivalent. This equivalent may be a noun clause; as,

'How I have thought of this, and of these times,

I will recount hereafter.'

In this case the noun-object clause, 'How I have thought of this,' forms the object of the transitive verb 'will recount' in the principal clause.

A noun-object clause answers the question What? in relation to the predicate of the principal clause. Thus, in the above example, the question, 'What will I recount?' the answer is, 'How I have thought of this.'

Noun-object clauses are generally introduced by the conjunction 'that;' as, 'We know that this is true.' Frequently, however, the conjunction is omitted; as, 'We know this is true;' They saw we were leaving.'

EXERCISE.

Distinguish the principal from the subordinate clauses in the following complex sentences :

'You should have heard the Hamelin people
Ringing the bells till they rocked the steeple.'
'And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.'

'I must be patient till the heavens look
With an aspect more favourable.'

'We went up the beach, by the sandy down,
Where the sea-stocks bloom, to the white-walled town.'

'She will start from her slumber

When gusts shake the door.'

The Habeas Corpus Act was suspended in Ireland while the Fenian insurrection lasted.

Edward the Confessor promised William of Normandy that he would leave the latter his kingdom.

He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed.

'Lands he could measure, terms and tides presage,

And e'en the story ran that he could gauge.'

The Wars of the Roses completely altered English society, because the chief of the nobles were either killed or ruined in the struggle.

‘And who that saw that monarch ride,
His kingdom battled by his side,
Could then his direful doom foretell?'

'There is a land, of every land the pride,
Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside,
Where brighter suns dispense serener light,
And milder moons emparadise the night.'

The Adjective Clause.

IAN adjective clause is an expansion of a simple adjective into an assertion which is of the nature of an adiective. Thus :

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The Adjective Clause.

AN adjective clause is an expansion of a simple adjective into an assertion, which is of the nature of an adjective. Thus : 'A rich man lives there' may be expanded to 'A man who is rich lives there.' 'Wise men are cautious in speech' may become 'Men who are wise are cautious in speech.' 'Our lately-bought house is damp' may be rendered 'The house that we lately bought is damp.'

The adjective clause performs the office of a simple adjective in the sentence to which it belongs.

It is the office of adjectives to qualify nouns; the adjective clause, therefore, qualifies some noun, or its equivalent, in the

sentence.

The adjective clause may qualify the subject, the object, or an adjunct.

The subject; as, They who boast are despised.

The object; as, We saw the horse that you rode.

An adjunct; as, The lambs sported in the meadow through which we passed.

This kind of clause is generally introduced by one of the relatives, who, whom, whose, which, that, what (= that which), etc. Examples: He jests at scars who never felt a wound. He is the freeman whom the truth makes free. He whose conscience is clear need fear no evil. That which I feared

has come upon me. I know what you would say.

It is frequently, however, introduced by an adverbial connective. Thus: We noticed the place where the army lay.' Here the clause 'where the army lay' qualifies the noun 'place,' and is therefore an adjective clause, though introduced by the adverb 'where.' Again I remember the time when the roses bloomed.' Here 'when the roses bloomed' qualifies 'time,' and is an adjective clause. Again: 'He deprived the man of the tools whereby he earned his living.' Such clauses answer the questions, What place?' 'What time?' 'What tools?'

The connective word or phrase of an adjective clause is frequently omitted. For example: The horse I bought is a good one; I know the book you speak of; The child you noticed passed by a short time since.