It seems that there is no cure. (a predicative clause)
It seems evident that there is no cure. (a subject clause, the predicate ‘seem evident’ is complete)
The complex sentence with an object clause
§ 154. An object clause may be introduced by conjunctions (that, if, whether, whether... or, lest), or connectives. The latter may be conjunctive pronouns (who, whoever, what, whatever, which), or conjunctive adverbs (where, wherever, when, whenever, why, how).
An object clause may refer to any verbal form, either finite or nonfinite
Jon followed, wondering if he had offended her.
I don’t know why I like you so much.
I left her to do whatever she thought fit.
She often reproached herself for what she had said.
He was terrified that she would forget about it soon.
An object clause may either follow or precede the main clause; it may be joined asyndetically and in this case it always follows the main clause.
Swithin said he would go back to lunch at Timothy’s.
What she thinks it would be impossible to say.
Object clauses may refer to some adjectives expressing perception, desire, feeling, assurance (certain, sure, sorry, pleased, desirous, jealous, anxious, etc.), and to statives (aware, afraid, etc.).
Certain that Hugh was really following the girl, he had but to keep him in sight and remain unseen.
I’m very sorry I disturbed you.
He was anxious lest somebody should guess his secret.
He was glad that no one was at home.
After some adjectives denoting a state (glad, sorry, happy, etc.) the object clause may imply semantically the cause of that state. This similarity to an adverbial clause of cause may present some difficulty in analysing such sentences as:
I am very sorry I disturbed you ——→ I am very sorry because I disturbed you.
After adjectives and participles denoting wish or intention (anxious, determined, interested, etc.) the object clause may imply purpose: I am anxious that you should succeed.
Occasionally an object clause may refer to a verbal noun.
She had green eyes and a spattering of what Joseph called American freckles across the bridge of her
nose.
Types of object clauses
§ 155. Like objects in a simple sentence, object clauses may vary in their relation to the principal clause and in the way they are attached to the word they refer to or depend on.
1. An object clause may directly follow the word it refers to (a non-prepositional object clause). In this case it is parallel in function to a direct object.
Jon wondered if he had offended her.
I know when I am wasting time.
A typical most recurrent type of object clauses is indirect speech following verbs of saying.
He said he had never heard of it.
He asked me if I wanted to stay.
Object clauses of this subtype are more informative than their main clauses, the role of the latter being relegated to that of introducing the source of information.
Like subject clauses, object clauses may be preceded by the formal it, usually after the verbs to feel, to believe, to consider, to find, to take, to like, to insist on, etc.
You may take it that it is a genuine check.
I like it when people are nice to me.
I insist upon it that you tell me all the details.
You are to see to it that there should be no quarrel.
An object clause may refer to formal it followed by the objective predicative after the verbs to think, to find, to make, to consider, etc.
I found it strange that she could speak so calmly.
I think it necessary that you should go there at once.
He made it clear that his intentions were honest.
2. Object clauses parallel in function to indirect objects are very rare. However, they are possible, the necessary condition for it being that the object clause should be followed by a direct object.
You may give whoever you like any presents.
3. There are also cases when an object clause functions like a cognate object to a verb.
He and his mamma knew very few people and lived what might have been thought very lonely lives.
4. An object clause may be joined to the main clause by the prepositions after, about, before, beyond, for, near, of, as to, except, etc. (a prepositional object clause). In this case it is parallel in function to a prepositional non-recipient object. If a preposition is very closely attached to the preceding verb or adjective (to agree upon, to call for, to comment upon, to depend on, to hear of, to insist on, to be certain of, to be sorry for, etc.) it generally precedes the object clause.
I am not certain of what he did.
I want to be paid for what I do.
Some prepositions which would be indispensable before nouns or gerunds used as objects are not always necessary before object clauses.
We insisted that he should stay with us.
(We insisted on his staying with us.)
We agreed that the experiment should be stopped.
(We agreed upon stopping the experiment.)
The preposition is retained when there is a formal object it foilowed by an object clause.
We insisted on it that he should stay with us.
We agreed upon it that the experiment should be stopped.
The complex sentence with an appositive (content) clause
§ 156. An appositive clause may be introduced by conjunctions (that, if, whether, as if, as though), conjunctive pronouns and adverbs (why, how). They are not separated by a comma and cannot be joined asyndetically.
Unlike an apposition in a simple sentence, which usually gives another name to the person or thing designated by the antecedent, an appositive clause discloses the meaning of a noun (which is also called the antecedent) with a very general meaning, such as:, thing, reason, point, moral, comment, remark, probability, idea, fact, consequence, feature, etc. The following sentences can be given as examples:
The question whether it was he or his enemy was hotly discussed.
She had a strange sensation as if something had happened.
Andrew had a warm desire that the conversation might continue.
The question how and why those people got the information still worried him.
Appositive clauses may refer to a whole clause.
Cecilia at once noted what Stephen in his preoccupation had not that Hilary had come to tell them
something.
She said it had only convinced her of what she had known from the first, that the creature had low taste.
The complex sentence with an attributive clause
§ 157. Attributive clauses function as modifiers to a word of nominal character, which is generally called the antecedent. Usually an attributive clause immediately follows its antecedent, although some types may occasionally be distant.
An attributive clause may be introduced by connectives - relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, what, which, that, as), or relative adverbs (when, where, whence, wherein). The choice of relative word depends on the categorical meaning of the antecedent.
a) If the antecedent denotes a living being, the relative pronoun who, whom, whose, or that is used.
A man whose voice seemed familiar to me gave commands.
Those of Big Lanny’s friends who saw him for the first time had to be told that he couldn’t see.
b) If the antecedent denotes a thing or notion, the relative word which, whose, or that is used; of these that is less formal.
At this remark, to which he did not reply, Gerald's ears grew hot.
He went to the next house, which stood in a small garden.
Clyde bowed and then took the cool hand that Myra extended to him.
Note:
Which may be used with reference to animals, although they are living beings.
He called back his dog, which returned obediently to its master.
c) If the antecedent is expressed by all denoting a living being the pronoun who or that is used; if it denotes a thing or notion only the pronoun that is generally used.
All that remained was to enter his name and send off the high entrance fees for the examination.
d) If the antecedent is expressed by everything, something, anything or nothing the relative pronoun that is generally used, or else the clause is joined asyndetically.
There was nothing in his face that spoke of his character.
Everything that you may want is in the wardrobe.
There was something in his low, languid voice that was absolutely fascinating.
e) If the antecedent is modified by the adjective only, the pronoun any, or by an adjective in the superlative degree, the attributive clause is introduced by the pronoun that or is joined asyndetically.
The only object that gave her satisfaction during those days was the white monkey.
This is the best chance that we have.
She could jump at any opportunity that she might have.
f) If the antecedent is modified by the demonstrative pronoun such, the relative pronoun as is used.
She was playing the piano with such feeling as couldn't he expected from a girl of her age.
g) After the antecedent modified by same, several relative expressions may be used:
the same children as..., the same person who..., the same island that...,
the same time when..., the same place where..., etc.
h) Attributive clauses joined by the relative adverbs when, where, whence, whereon (rather obsolete) refer to antecedents designating spatial or temporal notions.
It is the hour when we sleep.
He turned to that huge globe whereon were marked all discoveries of the moment concerning the origin
of modern Man...
i) The relative adverb why refers to antecedents denoting cause or reason.
They see no reason why they should not do so.
Note:
As the word-forms coincide, care should be taken not to confuse relative pronouns and adverbs with conjunctive pronouns and adverbs, which are used to introduce nominal clauses. The difference between the two functions lies in that the relative words always refer to an antecedent, whereas in the case of conjunctive words there is no such reference. Compare the following three sentences:
That is the place where we always meet. (a relative adverb)
That is where we always meet. (a conjunctive adverb)
I know where you always meet. (a conjunctive adverb)
Types of attributive clauses
§ 158. Attributive clauses fall into two types, depending on the degree of connection and the relation they bear to the antecedent:
attributive limiting (restrictive) clauses and attributive descriptive (non-restrictive) clauses.
§ 159. Attributive limiting clauses are very closely connected with the antecedent and cannot be removed from the sentence, because the information contained in the attributive clause singles out, determines, or particularizes the person, thing, idea, etc., expressed by the antecedent. Therefore the meaning of the main clause is not complete or is altogether changed without the subordinate clause. The lack of completeness is manifested by some deictic elements (determinants) before the antecedent (mainly articles, demonstrative pronouns, or words with a demonstrative or particularizing meaning, such as the same, the only, the best). The presence of such elements is justified only if the attributive clause is following. For example:
A library is a place where they keep books.
She had become aware of the fact that she was talking loudly.
In these sentences the main part taken separately is not clear because of the article which has a classifying (the first sentence) or a demonstrative force (the second sentence) and therefore requires some explanation in the form of an attributive clause or some context to make explicit what kind of place the library was, what fact was meant.
In some cases the dropping of the attributive clause does not make the main clause incomplete, but its meaning becomes altogether different from the meaning it has in the complex sentence. For example, compare the sentences:
a) Aren’t you the young man who married Fleur Forsyte? (that particular man, Fleur Forsyte’s husband)
b) Aren’t you the young man? (that particular man known to the speaker and the listener, with no further
information for the reader)
Limiting clauses may be joined by a connective with a preposition. These are analogous to prepositional attributes.
This is the man about whom we spoke yesterday.
She inclined more and more to that peace and quietness of which Montague Dartie had deprived her in
her youth.
§ 160. Attributive clauses may be joined to the main clause without a relative word, that is, asyndetically. They are called contact clauses.
Contact clauses are always limiting, for both the main and the subordinate clause complete each other. Thus in the sentence The hum I had heard was the combined result of their whispered repetitions the clause I had heard makes no sense unless the antecedent hum in the main clause makes the meaning of the predicate had heard (and thus the clause itself) complete, though formally the word hum cannot be considered as the direct object of the predicate. Some more examples of the same kind:
He was a man one always forgot.
I know where she kept that packet she had.
I used to learn by heart the things they’d written.
This is the kind of job I’d like.
As can be seen from the above examples, contact clauses are possible only in cases where the antecedent is semantically acceptable in the position of a direct object, prepositional object, or of a predicative in the subordinate clause.
He was a man one always forgot - One always forgot such a man.
I used to learn by heart the things they’d written – They’d written things.
Sentences in which the main and the subordinate clauses have a common part which functions as the subject in the subordinate clause are used nowadays only in dialects and in fiction to give the narration local colour. These are called apokoinu sentences:
Perhaps it was his scars suggested it (his scars suggested it).
John’s was the last name would have occurred to me (the last name would have occurred to me).
The next morning there was a boy came to see me (a boy came to see me).
§161. An attributive descriptive clause is characterized by a looser connection with the main clause. Usually it contains additional information about the antecedent and may be left out without any serious change in the meaning of the main clause. Attributive descriptive clauses are generally commad off. They are joined by the same connectives as limiting clauses, except the relative pronoun that, and asyndetic connection hardly ever occurs.
The additional descriptive character of the attributive clause is determined by the fact that the antecedent denotes a definite person, place, thing, notion, etc. It is either specified by a limiting attribute, or is expressed by a proper name, or else denotes a unique notion (or one specified by the situation).
At this age, which I judged to be near fifty, he looked extremely young.
I returned to London, where I remained for a week.
I consulted my father, who promised to help me.
She was thinking how little the opening of this war - which had started that morning at five-eleven with
the German army’s marching into Poland - was like the opening of the last.
The supplementary status of the attributive clauses can be illustrated by the following transformation of the first sentence given above.