THAT-CLAUSES

From a purely descriptive viewpoint, we can establish a category of clauses beginning with that. An analysis of the surrounding elements (the context) is needed to find out whether that in a given case is a demonstrative pronoun, a relative pronoun, or a conjunction, and what kind of clause is introduced by it. We will not at present dwell on the question how we have found out that the word that opens a clause (that would necessitate some additional investigation which does not belong here); we will consider it as settled that it does come at the beginning of a new clause, and we will limit ourselves to the study of the questions indicated above.

Let us first take two examples of sentences with clauses introduced by that: (1) And he had heard that the house was costing Soames a pretty penny beyond what he had reckoned on spending. (GALSWORTHY) (2) The light fell on her soft, delicate hair, that was full of strands of gold and of tarnished gold and shadow. (LAWRENCE) To determine what the word that is in each case and what sort of clause it introduces, let us examine the context more closely. In the first sentence that is preceded by had heard (a form of the verb hear) and followed by a noun with its article (the house), after which comes was costing (a form of the verb cost). This is enough to make it clear that that is a conjunction: it cannot be either a relative or a demonstrative pronoun, for the following reasons. It cannot be a relative pronoun because there is no noun either immediately before it or, indeed, anywhere before it; it cannot be a demonstrative pronoun because there is no noun immediately after it: the word immediately following is the definite

That-Clauses 309

article, and this makes it clear that the word that is not a demonstrative pronoun. So it can only be a conjunction.

As the clause introduced by the conjunction that immediately follows a form of the verb hear, the clause can only be an object clause (provided we accept the view of object clauses laid down on page 281).

In our second example things are quite different. The word that immediately follows the noun hair and is followed by a form of the verb be and the adjective full. The preceding noun hair does not in itself give any decisive information about the status of the word that: it may, in different contexts, be either a relative pronoun, or a demonstrative pronoun (for instance, in the context she did her hair that day, or she did her hair, that being essential for... etc., or it may be a conjunction, for example, in the context she did her hair that she might look... etc.). It is the words that come after that which are decisive: the words was full show that the word that is not a conjunction: if it were a conjunction there would be no subject in the subordinate clause, and the predicate was full must have a subject coming before it. That might after all be a demonstrative pronoun; if this were so, the clause which begins here would be an independent clause and the sentence a compound sentence. This is, however, most unlikely, as such a use of the demonstrative that in this context would be stylistically awkward. So the only likely possibility is, that that is the relative pronoun, and the clause which begins here, a relative attributive clause.

As may be seen from these examples, quite a number of factors have to be taken into account if we are to find out by reasoning what part of speech the word that is in each case and what kind of clause it introduces.

A somewhat similar analysis might be given of clauses introduced, for instance, by the word when. This would show whether it was an adverb or a conjunction, and what kind of subordinate clause it introduced. The latter question (about the kind of clause) would also have to be considered with clauses introduced by the conjunction whether, and possibly with some other types of clauses too.

In dealing with syntactical connections within a complex sentence, it will be well to bear in mind that special cases are always possible, which cannot be foreseen by any general theory. Thus, a very peculiar use of conjunctions is seen in the following complex sentence: He did not know why, exactly, he wrote, he said, unless perhaps that she might know to what extent he was guilty in that he could not bring himself with any sincerity to repent a sin that had for him such charm and value. (BUECHNER) The conjunction unless would seem to introduce a clause, as it always does. But in this sentence unless is followed by perhaps, after which a clause

310 Some General Remarks on Syndetic Composite Sentences

begins which is introduced by the conjunction that. It is quite clear from the predicate of this clause (might know) and also from the adverb why in the object clause why, exactly, he wrote, that this that- clauseis a clause of purpose. But what, then, is the function of the conjunction unless? Its function would be clear if the sentence ran like this: He did not know why, exactly, he wrote, he said, unless perhaps it were that she might know..., or, alternatively, He did not know why, exactly, he wrote, unless perhaps he wrote that she might know... In each of these variants the conjunction unless would introduce a subordinate clause of its own, to which the clause of purpose would, in its turn, be subordinated. In the original text unless in a peculiar way connects with the head clause a clause of purpose which already has its own conjunction, namely, that.

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