Structure TOEFL skill-8

8. Noun Clause Connector/Subject
In Skill 7 we saw that noun clause connectors can be used to introduce noun clauses. In Skill 8 we will see that in some cases a noun clause connector is not just a connector; a noun clause connector can also be the subject of the clause at the same time. Study the clauses and connectors in the following sentences.

I know what happened yesterday
NOUN CLAUSE AS OBJECT OF VERB


We are thinking about what happened yesterday.
NOUN CLAUSE AS OBJECT OF PREPOSITION

In the first example, there are two clauses: I know and what happened yesterday. These two clauses are joined by the connector what. It is important to understand that in this sentence the word what serves two functions. It is both the subject of the verb happened and the connector that joins the two clauses.

In the second example, there are two clauses. In the first clause we is the subject of are thinking. In the second clause what is the subject of happened. What also serves as the connector that joins the two clauses. The noun clause what happened yesterday functions as the object of the preposition about.

The following example shows how this sentence pattern could be tested in the Structure section of the TOEFL test.

Example

The company was prepared for ________ happened with the economy.

(A) it
(B) the problem
(C) what
(D) when

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