Chapter LXXVIII: Introductory Words of Noun Clauses

=311.= We have learned that adjective clauses and adverbial clauses are joined to what they modify by some connective. This word also serves to show that the clause it introduces is not independent but dependent.

The noun clause also is introduced by some connecting word. In the sentence, “That you have wronged me doth appear in this,” the first word _that_ could be placed nowhere in the clause except at the beginning, and it reveals at once that the clause it introduces is dependent.

=312.= The introductory word of a noun clause may be several parts of speech:

(1) The subordinating conjunctions _if_, _that_, and _whether_.

Go and see _if_ your father is coming home.

I believe _that_ all men are created free and equal.

I do not know _whether_ Mary is a suffragist or a suffragette.

Often the connective _that_ is omitted; as, “You said you were coming home early,” “David thought Dora was an angel.”

(2) The interrogative pronouns _who_, _whose_, _whom_, _which_, _what_.

Nobody knows _who_ first wrote the story of little Red Riding
Hood.

Can you tell _whose_ picture this is?

We cannot tell _whom_ the baby looks like.

Have you heard _which_ came out ahead?

Tell me _what_ you like, and I will tell you _what_ you are.

In sentences of this sort the interrogative pronoun is not used in a direct question, but always when a noun clause is introduced by an interrogative pronoun there is an indirect, or implied question. Make a direct question out of each of the noun clauses above.

The interrogative pronoun always has a use in the noun clause that it introduces, just as the relative pronoun has a use in the adjective clause. What is the use of each interrogative pronoun in the preceding sentences?

(3) The relative pronoun _what_. This pronoun is always equivalent to the two words _that which_, and there is no question implied in a noun clause introduced by this pronoun.

_What_ Martha told me about the will did not surprise me.

Getting dinner is _what_ takes most of my time.

(4) The indefinite pronouns _whoever_, _whichever_, _whatever_, etc.

_Whoever_ came was made welcome.

Take _whichever_ you like.

_Whatever_ is, is right.

What is the use of each noun clause in these sentences? What is the use in the clause of each indefinite pronoun?

(5) The conjunctive adverbs _when_, _where_, _why_, _how_, _whither_, etc.

Do you know _when_ the steamer sails?

I cannot remember _where_ I put my spectacles.

Can you tell _why_ he never wears a muffler?

I never understood _how_ the purse was returned.

It is strange _how_ the memory clings to some things.

Who knows _whither_ the clouds have fled?

The adverb introducing a noun clause modifies some word within the clause, usually the verb.

=Summary.=—The noun clause may be introduced by (1) a subordinate conjunction, (2) an interrogative pronoun, (3) the relative pronoun _what_, (4) an indefinite pronoun, (5) a conjunctive adverb.

=Exercise.=—Select all the noun clauses, and tell the use of each in the sentence. Tell the introductory word of each clause, and its use in the clause.

1. What disgusted them still more was that Bluebeard had
already been married several times, and no one knew what had
become of his wives.

2. Ernest was always ready to believe in whatever seemed
beautiful and good.

3. We asked the boatman why he did not speak Gaelic to his dog
as well as to his family.

4. Whoever has been hypnotized by a book agent will understand
how mother felt about the spectacles that she bought and could
not wear.

5. I wonder if Burbank ever really produced a deodorized onion.

6. Shakespeare’s chair stands in the chimney nook of a small
gloomy chamber, just behind what was his father’s shop.

7. Whatever was iron or brass in other houses was silver or
gold in this.

8. The apothecary listened as calmly as he could to the story
of how Mrs. Peterkin had put salt in her coffee.

9. The lady from Philadelphia asked where the milk was kept.

10. Fortunately, what God expects of us is not _the_ best, but
_our_ best.

11. Why this spot was selected for a mansion was always a
mystery, unless it was that the newcomer desired to isolate
himself completely.

12. Whether the Indians were not early risers, or whether they
were away just then on a warpath I couldn’t determine.

13. What passes for laziness in a boy is very often an
unwillingness to farm in a particular way.

14. The direction of a man’s life follows the unseen influence
of what he admires and loves and believes in.

15. Her only noteworthy achievement was that she had named her
twin sons Marquis de Lafayette Randall and Lorenzo de Medici
Randall.

16. I wonder who could describe those wonderful coral gardens
on which we gazed through twenty fathoms of crystal water.