Plain English Part 78

9. If _we_ knew the facts we could not be misled.

10. Inform yourself before _you_ seek to teach others.

11. We must unite in order that _we_ may possess power.

12. It is more than the _heart_ can bear.

13. May you have courage to dare ere _you_ have ceased to dream.

14. If _we_ remain ignorant, we shall remain enslaved.

15. We sometimes fear to trust our own thought because _it_ is our own.

16. Though _we_ should lose the strike we will not despair.

17. The battle waged so fiercely that _thousands_ were slain.

PHRASE CONJUNCTIONS

+360.+ There are certain phrases which have come to be used together as conjunctions so commonly that we may consider them as conjunctions. They are:

_As if_, _as though_, _but also_, _but likewise_, _so that_, _except that_, _inasmuch as_, _notwithstanding that_, _in order that_, _as well as_, _as far as_, _so far as_, _as little as_, _provided that_, _seeing that_, etc.

Exercise 2

Write sentences using these phrase conjunctions to introduce clauses.

NOUN CLAUSES

+361.+ We have found that there are two kinds of clauses, princ.i.p.al clauses and subordinate clauses.

+A princ.i.p.al clause is one that does not depend on any word.+

+A subordinate clause is one that depends upon some word or words in the princ.i.p.al clause.+

We have found, also, that these princ.i.p.al clauses are always connected by co-ordinate conjunctions, for they are of equal rank and importance; neither is dependent upon the other.

Subordinate clauses are always connected with the princ.i.p.al clause by a subordinate conjunction. The subordinate clauses which we have been studying have all been adverb clauses which are used to describe the action expressed in the verb contained in the princ.i.p.al clauses.

The subordinate clause in a sentence may also be used as a noun. When the subordinate clause is used as a noun it is called a noun clause.

+362.+ +A noun clause is a clause used as a noun.+

A noun clause may be used in any way in which a noun is used, except as a possessive. It may be used as a subject, an object, a predicate complement, or in apposition with a noun. These noun clauses may be introduced by either relative p.r.o.nouns, interrogative p.r.o.nouns or by conjunctions. For example:

I know _who_ he is.

He asked, "_what_ do you want?"

I know _where_ it is.

In the first sentence, _who he is_, is a noun clause used as the object of the verb _know_. It tells _what_ I know, and is the object of the verb _know_,--just as if I had said; _I know the facts_. In this sentence the noun, _facts_, is the object of the verb _know_.

In the second sentence, _He asked, "what do you want?_" the noun clause _what do you want_ is the object of the verb _asked_, and is introduced by the interrogative p.r.o.noun _what_.

We will study in a subsequent lesson the use of noun clauses introduced by relative p.r.o.nouns. In this lesson we are studying the conjunctions.

In the last sentence, _I know where it is_, the noun clause _where it is_, is the object of the verb _know_, and is introduced by the conjunction _where_.

+363.+ Noun clauses are introduced by the subordinate conjunctions, _where_, _when_, _whence_, _whither_, _whether_, _how_, _why_, and also by the subordinate conjunction _that_. For example:

I know _where_ I can find it.

I inquired _when_ he would arrive.

We do not know _whence_ it cometh nor whither it goeth.

Ask _whether_ the train has gone.

I don't know _how_ I can find you.

I cannot understand _why_ he does so.

I believe _that_ he is honest.

In all of these examples the noun clauses are used as the objects of the verb. Noun clauses may also be used as objects of prepositions. As, for example:

You do not listen to _what is said_.

He talked to me about _what had happened_.

He told me to come to _where he was_.

+364.+ Noun clauses may also be used as the subject of a sentence. As for example:

_That he is innocent_ is admitted by all.

_That he was guilty_ has been proven.

_Why he should do this_ is very strange.

_How we are to live_ is the great problem.

In all of these sentences, the noun clause is used as the subject of the verb. You will note that most frequently the noun clause used as subject of the verb is introduced by the subordinate conjunction _that_. But quite often we write these sentences in a somewhat different way. For example:

It is admitted by all _that he is innocent_.

It has been proven _that he was guilty_.

You will notice in these sentences we have expressed practically the same thought as in the sentences where the noun clause was used as the subject of the verb.

But now we have this little p.r.o.noun _it_ used as the subject, instead of the clause, which is the real subject of the sentence. _It_ is simply used as the introductory word in the sentence. The noun clause is in reality the subject of the sentence.

+365.+ Noun clauses may also be used as the predicate complement with a copulative verb. For example:

The general opinion is _that he is innocent_.

The problem is _how we may accomplish this quickly_.

The question was _why any one should believe such statements_.

In all of these sentences the noun clause is used as the complement of the incomplete verbs _is_ and _was_, to complete the meaning, just as we use a noun as the predicate complement of a copulative verb in such sentences as, _Socialism is a science._ _War is murder._

+366.+ A noun clause may also be used in apposition to a noun to explain its meaning. Apposition means to place alongside of. Note in the following sentences:

The fact, _that such a law had been pa.s.sed_, alters the situation.

His motion, _that the matter should be laid on the table_, was adopted.

In the first sentence, the clause, _that such a law had been pa.s.sed_, is placed beside the noun _fact_ and explains _what_ that fact is. The clause, _that the matter should be laid on the table_, is in apposition to and explains the noun _motion_.