English Language & Usage Asked by Andie on February 15, 2021
John found it surprising that Wayne played the tuba.
That Wayne played the tuba is the clause, but what kind is it? I am completely stuck on this and can’t figure it out.
I believe it is a dependent adverbial clause..
That Wayne played the tuba modifies found it surprising.
Answered by David M on February 15, 2021
Things have been done to this sentence.
There are actually three clauses here, with 3 predicates: find, (be) surprising, and play.
Find takes an infinitive object complement, and (be) surprising takes a tensed subject that-clause.
John found [[that Wayne played the tuba] to be surprising]
==> Extraposition
John found [it to be surprising [that Wayne played the tuba]]
==> to be-Deletion
John found it surprising [that Wayne played the tuba].
That Wayne played the tuba is the subject complement clause of to be surprising.
The dummy subject it gets inserted by Extraposition, and then to be-Deletion does the rest.
To answer the question, that Wayne played the tuba is all of the following:
It is not, however, an adverbial clause of any kind.
Answered by John Lawler on February 15, 2021
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