Section 3 complex sentences with predicative clauses

Exercise 1 p. 18.

Analyse the connectives used to join the predicative clauses and write them out under the following headings.

Number of sentence	Connectives				Asyndetic Sudordina-tion
	conjunctions	conjunctive pronouns	conjunctive adverbs

Answer the following question:

What link verbs are used with predicative clauses?

1) Work is what keeps life going (Hm). 2) But the fact is that the Indian Ocean and everything that it has, has lost its charm for me (Crn). 3) She sounded as if she had completely forgotten their last conversation (W). 4) One of her first thoughts that came to her now was where her husband was (Dr). 5) And the question was how was the matter to be kept quiet until after election which was still three weeks away (Dr). 6) He felt as if he were not fully useless – indeed, in such a stress of weather, quite worthwhile about the house (Dr). 7) Her nose, defiant of time, looked as though it had been moulded by a sculptor (DlR). 8) She seemed as if she couldn’t understand why Laura was there (Mn). 9) My only terror was lest my father should follow me (El).¹10) “I understand all that,” he broke in. “But what I want to know is whether or not you have lost faith in one” (Lnd). 11) I said I’d knock his block off next time I met him. Probably that is why he welshed on you today (Crn). 12) The fact is, the old lady believed Rebecca to be the meekest creature in the world (Th). 13) The problem is who will do it (Dw). 14) All he wanted to know was if he wrote letters to his wife (Mtl). 15) It was as though each saw himself in a distorting mirror, while the voices might have been one voice with its echo (Sy). 16) He looked just as he had looked ten years before (Sn). 17) What I want to know is when you’re going to get married (Lnd). 18) “And why couldn’t he have a voice too?” asked Freddy Malins sharply “Is it because he’s only a black?” (Jc).

Exercise 2 p. 19.

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate connectives to join the predicative clauses

1) He says Lowell did that during the twenty minutes she was there. That is … she was so upset by Lavinia (Frd). 2) The result is … it is very difficult to induce the English public to buy and read plays (Sh). 3) The fundamental trouble is … men and women are different creatures, with different minds and different paths in life (Lc). 4) That is … makes Englishmen unpopular on the continent (Sh). 5) It was … we had been unconsciously driving towards danger instead of away from it (Gr). 6) His arms felt … they would come out of their sockets (Ab). 7) Well, that’s … it was (Frd). 8) All she wanted to know was … he wrote letters to his wife (Mtl). 9) All I can say is … Mako’s brain seems to be crammed full of knowledge (Ab). 10) The reason he wanted to be alone was … he was very popular (Mcn). 11) And this is … Ashley meant when he wrote that war was not glory but dirt and misery (Mtl). 12) It’s exactly … I felt an hour before Crafts made his revelations (Sh). 13) And I think it’s … this generation is just wise enough to know that it is sick (Mn).

Exercise 3 p. 20

Complete the sentences adding predicative clauses

Model 1: The trouble is that he has lost your address.

1) The difficulty is that … . 2) The matter was that … . 3) The thing is that … . 4) The question was why (where, when) … . 5) The problem was how (what, who, which) … . 6) The reason is that … . 7) The result was that … . 8) The trouble was how … . 9) What worried her most was … . 10) The fact is … . 11) The fact of the matter is … .

Exercise 4 p. 20

Analyse the moods of the verbs in bold type and answer the following questions:

1. Which moods are used in predicative clauses joined by the conjunctions as if, as though?

2. Which moods are used in predicative clauses after words expressing order, proposal, request, fear etc.?

1) It was as though someone from outside were directing him how to choose his words in order to rob me of any possible excuse (Gr). 2) It was as if we had been unconsciously driving towards danger instead of away from it (Gr). 3) He meant something else. He sounded as though he felt sorry for us, or for you (W). 4) Her fear was lest they should stay for tea (Ch B). 5) It rather sounds to me as if she was pretending not to know who it was (Sy). 6) Mr.Sheldon’s proposal, ably supported by others was that hereditary peers should not be allowed to sit in the House of Lords at all (MS). 7) The government’s demand was that building workers should lose a penny an hour of their wage increase (MS). 8) The request was that the letter be discussed by the executive (MS). 9) The original motion in the White Paper was that the nominated peers should receive a salary (MS). 10) “It looks as though spring will never come,” she remarked (Cld). 11) It seems to me, at this distance of time, as if it were the next day when Peggotty broached the striking and adventurous proposition I am about to mention (CD). 12) It’s not for me to say at this stage, but it looks to me as though somebody, naming no names, had been trying to be artful (Chr).