Page 115 - New Grammar with a Smile 7

There are three kinds of subordinate clauses—noun, adjective and adverb. Let us
study them.

1. Noun Clause Note

A clause that behaves like a noun in a A noun clause can be a complement
sentence and often acts as the subject or to the verb be. For example,
the object of a finite verb is called a noun • This is how you can win the
clause. For example, spelling contest. (noun clause)

y Whoever broke the vase should clean An adjective clause qualifies a noun.
up the mess. (subject) For example,

y My dog eats whatever food I give him. • This is the boy who won the
spelling contest. (adjective clause)
(object)

A noun clause
♦ may be a complement of a verb or an object to a preposition. For example,

y What Mohan is trying to say is not clear. (subject)

y My mother does not know why the maid is absent today. (object to the
verb know.)

y Your promotion depends on how you work. (object to the preposition on)
y It seems that he is sad. (complement to the verb seems.)
♦ begins with question words (who, what, why, where, when) or with pronouns
(which, that, whoever, whatever).

A. Identify the subordinate clauses in the passage.

Once upon a time, on the banks of a great river in the north of Germany, was a
beautiful town called Hamelin. It was located at the base of a tall mountain near

an evergreen forest.

Although the people of Hamelin were good, they had one fault. They were not
very careful. They were so busy baking, cooking and eating that they did not pay
any attention to the heaps of garbage and bits of leftover food lying everywhere.
Hamelin always had rats. However they had never been a danger. The cats of the
city were helpful because they killed them. When the rats began to multiply, the
cats could not keep pace. A black sea of rats swarmed over the whole town. First,
they attacked the barns and storehouses. Then, they gnawed the wood, cloth or

anything at all. The one thing they didn’t eat was metal. The citizens were so
terrified that they flocked to plead with the town councillors to free them from the
plague of rats.

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