INTEGRATED SKILLS II

ANA LARISSA
HERZILA BASTOS
VALDENI REIS

Grammar Focus:

Noun Clauses

A Noun Clause...

is a dependent clause that acts like a NOUN

John asked which chapters the exam would cover.

can act:
- as a SUBJECT or a SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

What the newspaper reported was incorrect.

SUBJECT

A good man is what people think of him.

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

A SUBJECT COMPLEMENT can either be a predicate noun, which

renames the subject, or a predicate adjective, which describes the subject.
Linking verbs (such as be, seem, appear, remain, become, etc.), in all their
forms, are used to connect a subject complement to the subject.

A Noun Clause...

can act:
- as a DIRECT OBJECT, an INDIRECT OBJECT, or a
COMPLETIVE OF A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

People once believed that the world was flat.

DIRECT OBJECT

She gave whoever came her full attention.

INDIRECT OBJECT

The judges relied on what she informed.

COMPLETIVE OF A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE

A Noun Clause...

can follow certain ADJECTIVES

I am sure the prospect will brighten as the days go by.

can follow certain NOUNS (such as idea, theory, thought,
statement, etc.)

The idea that the moon is made of cheese is nonsense.

uses statement word order even when they begin with a
question word; it doesnt contain auxiliary verbs like DO, DOES,
or DID

I want to know how you did it.

TYPES OF NOUN CLAUSES

THAT Clauses: formed from statements;

introduced by subordinator that (that

can be omitted)
The Russian president and his wife told the press (that) they
were enjoying their visit.
Subjunctive Clauses: verb in base form;

occur after verbs/adjectives of

urgency, advisability, necessity, and
desirability
The president of the USA suggested that Russia open its
doors to business.

TYPES OF NOUN CLAUSES

Question Clauses: formed from wh- questions
(who, where which, how, etc.); use SV
statement word order
Do you know who the interpreter for the Russian leader
was?
IF/WHETER Clauses: formed from yes/no
questions; introduced by subordinator if
or whether (or not may be added)
No one knows if the experiment will
succeed (or not).

After watching a video about Helen Keller, do

the exercises from the handout in pairs.

ANSWER KEY
Part 1:
1. She knew that language was the key to open
Helens world.
That NC = Direct Object

2. Then came what Helen Keller later wrote

was the most important moment of her life.
Question NC = Subject

3. Helen now discovered she had a passion for

learning.
That NC = Direct Object

4. But Helens key achievement, the one she praised

most of all, was learning how to speak.
Nominal Infinitive phrase = Direct Object

5. Years later on a lecture tour she and Anne told

the audience how that miraculous breakthrough
came about.
Question NC = Direct Object

6. And I let her see, by putting her hand on my

face, how we talk with our mouth.
Question NC = Direct Object

7. Each year thereafter, Helen marked the

anniversary of the day she first met Anne by
reflecting on what she herself was doing for
others.
Question NC = Completive of Prepositional
Phrase

8. Her message to the world was see with your

heart.
Imperative NC = Subject Complement

Part 2:
9. Imagine that you couldn't see these words or
hear them spoken. But you could still talk, write,
read, and make friends. In fact, you went to
college, wrote nearly a dozen books, traveled all
over the world, met 12 U.S. presidents, and lived
to be 87.
That NC = Direct Object

10. Helens mother soon noticed how her

daughter was failing to respond when the dinner
bell was rang or when she passed her hand in
front of her daughters eyes.
Question NC = Direct Object

11. Relatives regarded her as a monster and

thought she should be put into an institution.
That NC = Direct Object

12. A specialist doctor in Baltimore confirmed that

Helen would never see or hear again but told the
family not to give up hope. The doctor believed
Helen could be taught and he advised them to visit
a local expert on the problems of deaf children.
This expert was Alexander Graham Bell, the
inventor of the telephone. Bell was now
concentrating on what he considered his true
vocation, the teaching of deaf children.
That NC = Direct Object
That NC = Direct Object
Question NC = Completive of a Prepositional
Phrase

13. Alexander Graham Bell suggested that the

Kellers write to Michael Anagnos, director of the
Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for
the Blind, and request that he try and find a
teacher for Helen. Michael Anagnos considered
Helens case and immediately recommended a
former pupil of the institution, that woman was
Anne Sullivan.
That Subjunctive NC = Direct Object
That Subjunctive NC = Direct Object

14. They found a teacher named Anne Sullivan.

Miss Sullivan herself had been blind, but had an
operation and regained her sight. She understood
what Helen was feeling.
Question NC = Direct Object

15. Anne Sullivan was strict, but she had a lot of

energy. In just a few days, she taught Helen how
to spell words with her hands. The trouble was,
Helen didn't understand what the words meant
until one morning at the water pump she got a
whole new attitude.
Nominal Infinitive Phrase = Direct Object
Question NC = Direct Object

16. On 4 November 1891 Helen sent Michael

Anagnos a short story she had written. Anagnos
was so delighted that he had soon published it in a
magazine hailing its importance in literary history.
However, he soon discovered that Helens story
was not original. This was ultimately to be the end
of Helens friendship with him. He felt he had been
made to appear foolish by what he considered to
be Helens deception.
That NC = Direct Object
(That) NC = Direct Object
Question NC = Completive of a Prepositional Phrase

17. With the help of Anne Sullivan, through her

writings, lectures and the way she lived her life,
Helen has shown millions of people that
disability need not be the end of the world.
That NC = Direct Object

18. In Helens own words: The public must learn

that the blind man is neither genius nor a freak
nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated,
a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is
right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty
of the public to help him make the best of himself
so that he can win light through work.
That NC = Direct Object