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Subject Complement Noun Clauses
We can take many of the subject noun clauses from the previous section and re-write them as subject complement noun clauses just by rearranging their position in the sentence.
For instance, we can take the subject noun clause below and now use it as a subject complement:
Ex: What Tom is eating is a bug.....subject noun clause
Ex: A bug is what Tom is eating.....subject complement noun clause
This also works with the other examples that already had a noun in the subject complement position...
Ex: Who is eating a bug is Tom.....subject noun clause
Ex: Tom is who is eating a bug.....subject complement noun clause
This also works in combination with other types of clauses such as the adverb clause found in the example below:
Ex: Why Tom is eating a bug is because he likes them......subject noun clause with an adverb clause
Ex: Because he likes them is why Tom is eating a bug...... an adverb clause with a subject complement noun clause
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In fact, it's quite common to combine a subject noun clause with a subject complement noun clause as can be seen in the sentences below.
Ex: That Tom is eating a bug is pretty disgusting. (NC + adj.)...can become...
Ex: That Tom is eating a bug is what is pretty disgusting. (NC + NC.)
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Ex: Who is eating a bug is What the McBurger's manager wants to know. (NC + NC.)
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Ex: How the bug got into his restaurant is what really surprises him. (NC + NC.)
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Practice exercises:
A possible practice for both subject and subject complement noun clauses is to provide students with a picture where lots of activities are going on. Picture dictionaries or online images work well for this. Then ask them to make a subject - subject complement noun clause sentence for each of the ten noun clause subordinators. This practice can also be divided into two assignments: one set of ten subject noun clause sentences for that lesson and another set of ten for the subject complement lesson.
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