Can "when clause" be a noun clause?

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

Moderator: Alan

Post Reply
Joon
Rising Star
Rising Star
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2004 9:58 am
Location: Korea

Can "when clause" be a noun clause?

Post by Joon »

A native speaker of English knows when to use the article a and when to use an.


Is the following parse acceptable?

A native speaker of English : subject

knows : transitive verb

when to use the article a and when to use an. : noun clause
User avatar
Alan
Teacher/Moderator
Teacher/Moderator
Posts: 15204
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
Status: Teacher of English
Location: Japan

Post by Alan »

It's not a strict parsing (which, as explained previously, involves a word-by-word analysis), but it is an accurate phrasal analysis. Yes, a when-clause as used here is a type of nominal.
Post Reply