Noun Clause and Conjunction

NOUN CLAUSES

 

A noun clause is a dependent clause and cannot stand alone as a sentence.  It must be connected to an independent clause, a main clause. A noun clause has its own subject and verb. It can begin with a question word. It can begin with if or whether. And it can begin with that.

a) Noun clauses with question words:

The following question words can be used to introduce a noun clause: when, where, why, how, who, whom, what, which, whose.

Example:

Where does Maria live?

I don't know -------------.

It is incorrect to say, "I don't know where does she live."

Notice that "does she live" is a question form.  Noun clauses cannot be in question form; it has to be a statement.

"I don't know where she lives" is the correct answer.

 

Noun clauses with who, what, whose + be:

A noun or pronoun that follows main verb 'be' in a question comes in front of 'be' in a noun clause.

Example:

--> Who is that boy? I don't know who that boy is.

--> Whose pen is this? I don't know whose pen this is.

A prepositional phrase does not come in front of 'be' in a noun clause.

Example:

--> Who is in the office? I don't know who is in the office.

--> Whose pen is on the desk? I don't know whose pen is on the desk.

Notice that usual word order is not used when the question word is the subject of the question as in 'who' and 'what'.  In this case, the word order in the noun clause is the same as the word order in question.

Be sure to complete the exercises in the assignments.

 

b) Noun clauses, which begin with if or whether:

When a yes/no question is changed to a noun clause, if is usually used to introduce the clause. 

Example:

--> Is Maria at home?

               I don't know if Maria is at home.

--> Does this bus go to Los Angeles?

               I don't know if this bus goes to Los Angeles.

--> Did Juan go to Mexico?

               I wonder if Juan went to Mexico.

Frequently, speakers may add 'or not'.  This comes at the end of the noun clause in sentences with 'if' and immediately after 'whether' in sentences with 'whether'.

Example:

--> I don't know if Maria is at home or not.

--> I don't know whether or not Maria is at home.

Notice that we cannot use 'or not' immediately after 'if'.

 

c) Noun clauses which begin with that:

A noun clause can be introduced by the word 'that'.

Example :

--> I think that Ms. Weiss is a good teacher.

In the sentence above, 'Ms. Weiss is a good teacher' is a noun clause. It is the object of the verb 'think'.

 

CONJUNCTION

In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated CONJ or CNJ) is a part of speech that connects two words, sentences, phrases or clauses together. A discourse connective is a conjunction joining sentences. This definition may overlap with that of other parts of speech, so what constitutes a "conjunction" must be defined for each language. In general, a conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle, and it may or may not stand between the items it conjoins.

The definition may also be extended to idiomatic phrases that behave as a unit with the same function as a single-word conjunction (as well as, provided that, etc.).

Many students are taught that certain conjunctions (such as "and", "but", and "so") should not begin sentences, although authorities such as the Chicago Manual of Style proclaim that this teaching has "no historical or grammatical foundation". (See Disputes in English grammar.)

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that join two or more items of equal syntactic importance, such as words, main clauses, or sentences. In English the mnemonic acronym FANBOYS can be used to remember the coordinators for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. These are not the only coordinating conjunctions; various others are used, including "and nor" (British), "but nor" (British), "or nor" (British), "neither" ("They don't gamble; neither do they smoke"), "no more" ("They don't gamble; no more do they smoke"), and "only" ("I would go, only I don't have time").

Here are some examples of coordinating conjunctions in English and what they do:

• For presents a reason ("He is gambling with his health, for he has been smoking far too long.").
• And presents non-contrasting item(s) or idea(s) ("They gamble, and they smoke.").
• Nor presents a non-contrasting negative idea ("They do not gamble, nor do they smoke.").
• But presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, but they don't smoke.").
• Or presents an alternative item or idea ("Every day, they gamble or they smoke.").
• Yet presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, yet they don't smoke.").
• So presents a consequence ("He gambled well last night, so he smoked a cigar to celebrate.").

Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. There are six different pairs of correlative conjunctions:

1) either...or

2) not only...but also

3) neither...nor (or increasingly neither...or)

4) both...and

5) whether...or

6) just as...so

Examples:

• You either do your work or prepare for a trip to the office.
• Not only is he handsome, but he is also brilliant.
• Neither the basketball team nor the football team is doing well.
• Both the cross country team and the swimming team are doing well.
• Whether you stay or go is your decision.
• Just as many Americans love football, so many Canadians love ice hockey.

 

Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions, also called subordinators, are conjunctions that conjoin an independent clause and a dependent clause. The most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language include after, although, as, as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as though, because, before, if, in order that, since, so, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, and while. Complementizers can be considered to be special subordinating conjunctions that introduce complement clauses (e.g., "I wonder whether he'll be late. I hope that he'll be on time"). Some subordinating conjunctions (until and while), when used to introduce a phrase instead of a full clause, become prepositions with identical meanings.

In many verb-final languages, subordinate clauses must precede the main clause on which they depend. The equivalents to the subordinating conjunctions of non-verb-final languages such as English are either

• clause-final conjunctions (e.g. in Japanese), or
• suffixes attached to the verb and not separate words

Such languages in fact often lack conjunctions as a part of speech because:

1. the form of the verb used is formally nominalised and cannot occur in an independent clause
2. the clause-final conjunction or suffix attached to the verb is actually formally a marker of case and is also used on nouns to indicate certain functions. In this sense, the subordinate clauses of these languages have much in common with postpositional phrases.

Excersice 1

1.  Do you know _____________________?

    A.  where we will be taking the TOEFL test

    B.  where will we be taking the TOEFL test

    C.  where we will taking the TOEFL test

    D.  which we will be taking the TOEFL test

Jawab : A

2.  _________________changed his life forever.

    A.   That Tomo did

    B.   What  did Tomo do

    C.   What Tomo did

    D.   Who Tomo did

Jawab : C

3.  I will talk _________________.

    A.  about whatever is on your mind

    B.  whatever is on your mind

    C.  about whenever is on your mind

    D.  about whichever is on your mind

Jawab : A

4.  I don't know ____________________.

    A.  when will we go to the football game

    B.  whom we will go to the football game

    C.  whenever we will go to the football game

    D.  when we will go to the football game

Jawab : D

5.  ______________________ when the others will arrive?

    A.  Do Steve know

    B.  Do Steve knows

    C.  Does Steve know

    D.  Is Steve know

Jawab:C
 

Excersice 2

1 . I need an office to myself ______ I can get some work done.

a.   So

b.  so that

c.   although

d.  when

e.   since

Jawab : B

2 . Write it down ______ you don't forget.

a.    So

b.    so that

c.    although

d.    when

e.    since

Jawab : B

3 . I need to get to work early ______ I can finish the report before the meeting.

a.    So

b.    so that

c.    although

d.    when

e.    since

Jawab : B

4 . I'll tell her ______ I see her.

a.    So

b.    so that

c.    although

d.    when

e.    since

Jawab : D

5 . ______ you left, the atmosphere in the office has not been as nice.

a.    So

b.    so that

c.    although

d.    when

e.    since

Jawab : E

Source :

v  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunction_%28grammar%29

v  http://www.testyourenglish.net/english-online/subjects/nouncl1.html

v http://buckhoff.topcities.com/noun_clauses.htm#Noun%20clauses/infinitives:%20%20Quiz%201

v  http://www.better-english.com/grammar/con2.htm