Subject Clauses

Subject clause: a clause that serves as the subject of a sentence is called a subject clause. It usually comes before the predicate verb of the main clause, or is replaced by the formal subject it, with the clause itself moved to the end of the sentence

Subject clauses use declarative word order; the usual structure is “introductory word + subject + predicate + other elements”;

1. that

   • That you are coming to London is the best news(relative clause; the relative pronoun can be omitted when it is the object of the clause) I have heard this long time.

     Generally the formal subject it is used in place of the subject, and the real subject is moved to the end

   • It is the best news I have heard this long time that you are coming to London

2. Introduced by whether

   • Whether they would support us was a problem
   • However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question
     • Two coordinated subject clauses introduced by whether act as the subject of is

3. Introduced by a connective pronoun

   Example: Whoever is in top form wins the game when two matched players meet. When two equals meet, the bolder one wins.

4. Introduced by a connective adverb

   Example: How this happened is not clear to anyone. Nobody knows how this happened.

5. Introduced by what (relative-pronoun type)

   Example: What struck me was that they have all suffered a lot. What impressed me deeply was that they had all been through a great deal of hardship.

2. Subject Clauses and the Formal Subject it

1. For subject clauses introduced by the conjunction that, the formal subject it is usually used in place of the clause:

Example: That they should refuse to sign the petition required great courage. It took great courage for them to refuse to sign the petition.

2. For subject clauses introduced by a connective pronoun (or adverb), you can either use the formal subject it in place of the clause or put the clause directly at the start of the sentence:

Example: Whether they would support us was a problem. Whether they would back us was still an open question.

3. For subject clauses introduced by what (relative-pronoun type), the clause is usually placed directly at the start of the sentence.

Example: What I want to know is this. This is exactly what I want to know.

Sometimes the formal subject can also be used.

Example: It is clear enough what he meant. What he meant is quite clear.

4. If the sentence is a question, the structure with the formal subject it must be used:

Example: Is it true that he is the girl’s father? Is he really the girl’s father?

3. Omitting the Conjunction that

The conjunction that introducing a subject clause can sometimes be omitted and sometimes not. The rule is: if the that-clause comes at the very start of the sentence, that cannot be omitted; if the that-clause comes at the end of the sentence and the formal subject it is used at the start, that can be omitted:

> Example: That you didn’t go to the talk was a pity. It’s a pity you missed the talk. (that cannot be omitted)

> Example: It was a pity (that) you didn’t go to the talk. It’s a pity you missed the talk. (that can be omitted)