Modifying a noun with a noun

Complements are words that come after linking verbs and modify nouns. The most common noun complements are adjectives and nouns, but can be many other parts of speech as well.

TestMagic uses the term noun complement more liberally than do some other grammar resources; doing so will make grammar explanations for tests much, much easier and faster.

Examples of complements

All the highlighted words or phrases below are complements.

My sister is a doctor.

Tomomi is happy.

The book is on the table.

Carl is here.

We should try to remain calm.

The test proved to be more difficult than we had imagined.

I consider you a friend.

Megumi called her ex-boyfriend a philistine.

A. Adverb clauses show relationships such as time, cause and effect, contrast, and condition. (See Conditional Sentences for more information on this type of adverb clause.)

B. A sentence which contains one adverb clause and one independent clause is the result of combining two clauses which have one of the relationships above. You can combine two independent clauses to make one sentence which contains an adverb clause by following these steps:

1. You must have two clauses which have one of the relationships in A above:

Billy couldn’t swim.

He jumped off the pier. (contrast)

2. Add a subordinating conjunction to the beginning of the clause you want to make dependent:

Although Billy couldn’t swim

He jumped off the pier.

3. Place the two clauses next to each other. Usually, the order of the clauses is not important. When the adverb clause precedes the independent clause, the two clauses are usually separated by a comma:

Although Billy couldn’t swim, he jumped off the pier.

When the independent clause precedes the adverb clause, there is usually no comma:

Billy jumped off the pier although he couldn’t swim.

C. The subordinators in adverb clauses are called subordinating conjunctions. They cannot be omitted. They cannot be subjects. Here are some of the subordinating conjunctions:

Time: after, before, when, while, as, by the time, whenever, since, until, as soon as, once, as long as

Cause and effect: because, since, now that, as, as long as, inasmuch as, so (that), in order that

Contrast: although, even though, though, whereas, while

Condition: if, unless, only if, whether or not, even if, providing (that), provided (that), in case, in the event (that). See Conditional Sentences.

D. Here are some examples of sentences which contain one adverb clause (underlined) and one independent clause. The two sentences in each pair have the same meaning:

After he took lessons, George could swim well.

George could swim well after he took lessons.

Because he couldn’t swim, Billy drowned.

Billy drowned because he couldn’t swim.

Although he isn’t interested in food, Fred works as a cook.

Fred works as a cook although he isn’t interested in food.

If you want to write well, you must practice.

You must practice if you want to write well.

A. Adjective clauses perform the same function in sentences that adjectives do: they modify nouns.

The teacher has a car. (Car is a noun.)

It’s a new car. (New is an adjective which modifies car.)

The car that she is driving is not hers.

(That she is driving is an adjective clause which modifies car. It’s a clause because it has a subject (she) and a predicate (is driving); it’s an adjective clause because it modifies a noun.)

Note that adjectives usually precede the nouns they modify; adjective clauses always follow the nouns they modify.

B. A sentence which contains one adjective clause and one independent clause is the result of combining two clauses which contain a repeated noun. You can combine two independent clauses to make one sentence containing an adjective clause by following these steps:

1. You must have two clauses which contain a repeated noun (or pronoun, or noun and pronoun which refer to the same thing). Here are two examples:

The book is on the table. + I like the book.

The man is here. + The man wants the book.

2. Delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun in the clause you want to make dependent. See C. below for information on relative pronouns.

The book is on the table. + I like which

The man is here. + who wants the book

3. Move the relative pronoun to the beginning of its clause (if it is not already there). The clause is now an adjective clause.

The book is on the table. + which I like

The man is here. + who wants the book

4. Put the adjective clause immediately after the noun phrase it modifies (the repeated noun):

The book which I like is on the table.

The man who wants the book is here.

C. The subordinators in adjective clauses are called relative pronouns.

1. These are the most important relative pronouns: who, whom, that, which.

These relative pronouns can be omitted when they are objects of verbs. When they are objects of prepositions, they can be omitted when they do not follow the preposition.

WHO replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people. It cannot replace nouns and pronouns that refer to animals or things. It can be the subject of a verb. In informal writing (but not in academic writing), it can be used as the object of a verb.

WHOM replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people. It cannot replace nouns and pronouns that refer to animals or things. It can be the object of a verb or preposition. It cannot be the subject of a verb.

WHICH replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to animals or things. It cannot replace nouns and pronouns that refer to people. It can be the subject of a verb. It can also be the object of a verb or preposition.

THAT replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people, animals or things. It can be the subject of a verb. It can also be the object of a verb or preposition (but that cannot follow a preposition; whom, which, and whose are the only relative pronouns that can follow a preposition).

2. The following words can also be used as relative pronouns: whose, when, where.

WHOSE replaces possessive forms of nouns and pronouns (see WF11 and pro in Correction Symbols Two). It can refer to people, animals or things. It can be part of a subject or part of an object of a verb or preposition, but it cannot be a complete subject or object. Whose cannot be omitted. Here are examples with whose:

The man is happy. + I found the man’s wallet. =

The man whose wallet I found is happy.

The girl is excited. + Her mother won the lottery. =

The girl whose mother won the lottery is excited.

WHEN replaces a time (in + year, in + month, on + day,...). It cannot be a subject. It can be omitted. Here is an example with when:

I will never forget the day. + I graduated on that day.=

I will never forget the day when I graduated.

The same meaning can be expressed in other ways:

I will never forget the day on which I graduated.

I will never forget the day that I graduated.

I will never forget the day I graduated.

WHERE replaces a place (in + country, in + city, at + school,...). It cannot be a subject. It can be omitted but a preposition (at, in, to) usually must be added. Here is an example with where:

The building is new. + He works in the building. =

The building where he works is new.

The same meaning can be expressed in other ways:

The building in which he works is new.

The building which he works in is new.

The building that he works in is new.

The building he works in is new.

D. Adjective clauses can be restrictive or nonrestrictive.

1. A restrictive adjective clause contains information that is necessary to identify the noun it modifies. If a restrictive adjective clause is removed from a sentence, the meaning of the main clause changes. A restrictive adjective clause is not separated from the main clause by a comma or commas. Most adjective clauses are restrictive; all of the examples of adjective clauses above are restrictive. Here is another example:

People who can’t swim should not jump into the ocean.

2. A nonrestrictive adjective clause gives additional information about the noun it modifies but is not necessary to identify that noun. If a nonrestrictive adjective clause is removed from a sentence, the meaning of the main clause does not change. A nonrestrictive adjective clause is separated from the main clause by a comma or commas. The relative pronoun that cannot be used in nonrestrictive adjective clauses. The relative pronoun cannot be omitted from a nonrestrictive clause. Here is an example:

Billy, who couldn’t swim, should not have jumped into the ocean.

E. Adjective clauses can often be reduced to phrases. The relative pronoun (RP) must be the subject of the verb in the adjective clause. Adjective clauses can be reduced to phrases in two different ways depending on the verb in the adjective clause.

1. RP + BE = 0

People who are living in glass houses should not throw stones. (clause)

People living in glass houses should not throw stones. (phrase)

Mary applied for a job that was advertised in the paper. (clause)

Mary applied for a job advertised in the paper. (phrase)

2. RP + OTHER VERB (not BE) = OTHER VERB + ing

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.(clause)

People living in glass houses should not throw stones. (phrase)

Students who sit in the front row usually participate more. (clause)

Students sitting in the front row usually participate more. (phrase)

A. Noun clauses perform the same functions in sentences that nouns do:

A noun clause can be a subject of a verb:

What Billy did shocked his friends.

A noun clause can be an object of a verb:

Billy’s friends didn’t know that he couldn’t swim.

A noun clause can be a subject complement:

Billy’s mistake was that he refused to take lessons.

A noun clause can be an object of a preposition:

Mary is not responsible for what Billy did.

A noun clause (but not a noun) can be an adjective complement:

Everybody is sad that Billy drowned.

B. You can combine two independent clauses by changing one to a noun clause and using it in one of the ways listed above. The choice of the noun clause marker (see below) depends on the type of clause you are changing to a noun clause:

To change a statement to a noun clause use that:

I know + Billy made a mistake =

I know that Billy made a mistake.

To change a yes/no question to a noun clause, use if or whether:

George wonders + Does Fred know how to cook? =

George wonders if Fred knows how to cook.

To change a wh-question to a noun clause, use the wh-word:

I don’t know + Where is George? =

I don’t know where George is.

C. The subordinators in noun clauses are called noun clause markers. Here is a list of the noun clause markers:

that

if, whether

Wh-words: how, what, when, where, which, who, whom, whose, why

Wh-ever words: however, whatever, whenever, wherever, whichever, whoever, whomever

D. Except for that, noun clause markers cannot be omitted. Only that can be omitted, but it can be omitted only if it is not the first word in a sentence:

correct:

Billy’s friends didn’t know that he couldn’t swim.

correct:

Billy’s friends didn’t know he couldn’t swim.

correct:

Billy’s mistake was that he refused to take lessons.

correct:

Billy’s mistake was he refused to take lessons.

correct:

That Billy jumped off the pier surprised everyone.

not correct:

* Billy jumped off the pier surprised everyone.

E. Statement word order is always used in a noun clause, even if the main clause is a question:

not correct:

* Do you know what time is it? (Question word order: is it)

correct:

Do you know what time it is? (Statement word order: it is)

not correct:

* Everybody wondered where did Billy go. (Question word order: did Billy go)

correct:

Everybody wondered where Billy went. (Statement word order: Billy went)

F. Sequence of tenses in sentences containing noun clauses:

When the main verb (the verb in the independent clause) is present, the verb in the noun clause is:

future if its action/state is later

He thinks that the exam next week will be hard.

He thinks that the exam next week is going to be hard.

present if its action/state is at the same time

He thinks that Mary is taking the exam right now.

past if its action/state is earlier

He thinks that George took the exam yesterday.

When the main verb (the verb in the independent clause) is past, the verb in the noun clause is:

was/were going to or would + BASE if its action/state is later

 

He thought that the exam the following week was going to be hard.

 

He thought that the exam the following week would be hard.

 

past if its action/state is at the same time

 

He thought that Mary was taking the exam then.

 

past perfect if its action/state is earlier

He thought that George had taken the exam the day before.

If the action/state of the noun clause is still in the future (that is, after the writer has written the sentence), then a future verb can be used even if the main verb is past.

The astronaut said that people will live on other planets someday.

If the action/state of the noun clause continues in the present (that is, at the time the writer is writing the sentence) or if the noun clause expresses a general truth or fact, the simple present tense can be used even if the main verb is past.

We learned that English is not easy.

The boys knew that the sun rises in the east.

G. Here are some examples of sentences which contain one noun clause (underlined) and one independent clause:

Noun clauses as subjects of verbs:

That George learned how to swim is a miracle.

Whether Fred can get a better job is not certain.

What Mary said confused her parents.

However you learn to spell is OK with me.

Noun clauses as objects of verbs:

We didn’t know that Billy would jump.

We didn’t know Billy would jump.

Can you tell me if Fred is here?

I don’t know where he is.

George eats whatever is on his plate.

Noun clauses as subject complements:

The truth is that Billy was not very smart.

The truth is Billy was not very smart.

The question is whether other boys will try the same thing.

The winner will be whoever runs fastest.

Noun clauses as objects of prepositions:

Billy didn’t listen to what Mary said.

He wants to learn about whatever is interesting.

Noun clauses as adjective complements:

He is happy that he is learning English.

We are all afraid that the final exam will be difficult.