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What Clauses

What clauses is a part of a noun clause. It is used as a subject or an

object of the sentence.

For example:

What he said was interesting. What he said is a noun clause. It is used as the subject of

the sentence. The noun clause has its own subject (he) and

verb (said)

I listened to what he said. What he said is a noun clause. It is used as the object of

the preposition to.

A: What did she say?

B: What she said surprised me.

What she said is the subject of the sentence.

A: What should they do? B: What they should do is obvious.

A noun clause subject takes a singular verb. (e.g. is)

Compare the following sentences.

We gave them some home-made ice cream.

What we gave them was some home-made ice cream.

If we want to focus particular attention on certain information in a

sentence, we sometimes a what- clause followed by be. The

information we want to focus attention on is outside the what-

clause. We often use this if we want to introduce a new topic, to

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give a reason, instruction, explanation, or to correct something that

has been said or done. In the following examples, the information

in focus is underlined.

What I’d like you to work on is exercise 2 on page 80.

Tim arrived two hours late; What had happened was that his bicycle chain had broken.

We can often put the what-clause either at the beginning or the end

of the sentence:

What upset me most was his rudeness. or

His rudeness was what upset me most.

To emphasize an action performed by someone, we use a sentence

with what.....do....

Dave lost his job and was short of money, so what he did

was (to) sell his flat and move in with his brother.

A: When the bookcase arrived, two shelves were broken. B: Did you send it back?

A: No, what we did was (to) send them a letter of

complaint

The pattern in this kind of sentence is What + subject + do + be +

to-infinitive clause.

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Exercise 1 Rewrite the ideas, beginning with “What”

1. The police interviewed all the witnesses to the accident first.

What the police did first was interview all the witnesses to the

accident.

2. You should invest all your money in telecoms companies.

______________________________________________________

3. She writes all her novels on a typewriter.

______________________________________________________

4. Their car broke down on the motorway so they didn't get to Jo's

wedding on time.

______________________________________________________

5. She works in a coffee shop on the 5th floor.

______________________________________________________

6. She draws caricatures on Saturdays to earn extra money.

______________________________________________________

Exercise 2 Think about 5 things you love doing on the weekend. Write 5 true

sentences with the structure “What....is...”.

Example: What I like doing on the weekend is read novels.

1. ___________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________

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Gerunds and Infinitives

1. A gerund is a noun made from a verb by adding "-ing." The gerund form of the verb "read" is "reading." You can use a gerund as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

a. Reading helps you learn English. subject of sentence b. I'm excited aboutreadingnovel.object of preposition c. I enjoy reading. object of sentence

Verbs Followed by Gerunds

Admit He admitted cheating on the test Advise The doctor generally advised drinking

low-fat milk. Anticipate I anticipated arriving late. Appreciate I appreciate hearing from them Avoid He avoided talking to her Complete He completed renovating the house. Consider I will consider going with you Delay He delayed leaving for school Deny She denied committing the crime Discuss They discussed opening a new

business Dislike She dislikes working after 5 PM. Enjoy We enjoy hiking Finish She finished studying about ten

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Forget I’ll never forget visiting Napoleon’s tomb.

Can’t help I can’t help worrying about it Keep I keep hoping he will come Mention She mentioned going to a movie Mind Would you mind helping me with

this? Miss I miss being with my family Postpone Let’s postpone leaving until tomorrow Practice She practiced singing the song. Quit She quit worrying about the problem. recall Tom recalled using his credit card at

the store. Recollect She recollected living in Kenya. Recommend Tony recommended taking the train. Regret She regretted saying that. Remember I remember telling her the address

yesterday. resent Nick resented Debbie's being there. resist He resisted asking for help. risk He risked being caught. Stop She stopped working at 5 o'clock. suggest They suggested staying at the hotel. tolerate She won’t tolerate cheating during an

examination try Sam tried opening the lock with a

paperclip. understand I don’t understand his leaving school

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Reference list of verbs followed by gerund

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2. Infinitives are the "to" form of the verb. The infinitive form of "learn" is "to learn." You can also use an infinitive as the subject, the complement, or the object of a sentence.

Examples:

To learn is important. subject of sentence The most important thing is to learn. complement of

sentence He wants to learn. object of sentence

Verbs Followed by Infinitives

Afford I can’t afford to buy it. Agree Tom agreed to help me. Appear His health appeared to be better.

Arrange Naomi arranged to stay with her cousin in

Miami. Ask He asked to come with us Beg He begged to come with us. Care He doesn't care to participate in the

activity.

Claim She claimed to be a princess.

Consent She finally consented to marry him. Decide I have decided to leave on Monday. Demand He demanded to speak to Mr. Harris.

Deserve He deserves to go to jail.

Expect They expect to arrive early.

Fail He failed to get enough money to pay for

the new project.

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Forget I forgot to mail the letter. Hesitate Don’t hesitate to ask for my help. Hope Jane hopes to arrive next week. Learn He learned to play the piano. Manage He managed to open the door without the

key. Mean I didn’t mean to hurt your feeling. Need I need to have your opinion offer They offered to help us.

plan I am planning to have a party. prepare They prepared to take the test.

pretend The child pretended to be a monster.

promise She promised to stop smoking.

Refuse The guard refused to let them enter the

building. Regret I regret to inform you that your application

was rejected. remember Did you remember to lock the door when

you left?

Seem Nancy seemed to be disappointed.

Struggle I struggled to stay awake. Swear She swore to tell the truth.

threaten She threatened to tell my parents. voulunteer He volunteered to help us. Wait She waited to buy a movie ticket.

Want I want to tell you something. Wish She wishes to come with us.

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Reference list of verbs followed by infinitives

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Common verbs followed by either infinitives or

gerund

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Note: Remember + gerund This is when you remember something that has happened in the past. You have a memory of it, like being able to see a movie of it in your head.

I remember going to the beach when I was a child. (= I have a memory of going to the beach).

He remembers closing the door. (= He has a memory of closing the door).

Remember + to + infinitive This is when you think of something that you need to do. (And usually, you then do the thing).

I remembered to buy milk. (= I was walking home and the idea that I needed milk came into my head, so I bought some).

She remembered to send a card to her grandmother.

Forget + gerund This is the opposite of remember + gerund. It's when you forget about a memory, something that you've done in the past.

Have we really studied this topic before? I forget reading about it.

I told my brother that we'd spent Christmas at Granny's house in 1985, but he'd forgotten going there.

Forget + to + infinitive This is the opposite of remember + to + infinitive. It's when you want to do something, but you forget about it.

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I forgot to call my mother. (= I wanted to call my mother, but when it was a good time to call her, I forgot. I was thinking about something else, and the idea to call my mother didn't come into my head).

Try + gerund This is when you do something as an experiment. The thing you do is not difficult, but you want to see if doing it will have the result that you want.

I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches. (= Using nicotine patches was easy, but I wanted to know if it would help me stop smoking).

She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn't help her lose weight. (It was easy for her to give up chocolate. She gave it up to see if it would help her lose weight, but it didn't).

Try + to + infinitive This is when the thing you do itself is difficult and you don't succeed in doing it.

I tried to lift the suitcase, but it was too heavy. She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn't run fast

enough.

Look at the difference: It was too hot in the room. I tried opening the window

(it was easy to open the window). It didn't help though, because it was very hot outside too.

I tried to open the window, but I couldn't because it was stuck.

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Stop + gerund When we stop doing something it means the verb in the gerund is the thing that we stop. It can mean 'stop forever' or 'stop at that moment'.

I stopped working when I was expecting a baby. (Working is the thing I stopped).

Stop + to + infinitive In this case, we stop something else in order to do the verb in the infinitive.

I stopped to eat lunch. (I stopped something else, maybe working or studying, because I wanted to eat lunch.

Regret + gerund This is when you are sorry about something you did in the past and you wish you hadn't done it.

I regret going to bed so late. I'm really tired today. She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She

wishes that she had studied more and then gone to university.

Regret + to + infinitive We use this construction when we are giving someone bad news, in quite a formal way. The verb is almost always something like 'say' or 'tell' or 'inform'.

I regret to tell you that the train has been delayed. The company regrets to inform employees that the

London office will close next year

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Use gerund/infinitive in the following.

1. Alan can’t stand _________ on trains. (riding/ to ride) 2. Mr. Harris enjoys _________ people out to dinner. (inviting / to

invite) 3. In the old days, gentlemen challenged their rivals _______.

(fighting / to fight) 4. Jim stopped _________ his shoelace. Wait for him. (tying / to

tie) 5. My wife always volunteers ___________ cakes PTA meetings.

(baking / to bake) 6. Don’t waste my time ___________ about your salary.

(complaining/ to complain) 7. Eva is having trouble _________ on the exam. (concentrating /

to concentrate) 8. Please allow me ____________ your Facebook page. (joining /

to join) 9. You won’t forget _________milk on your way home, will you?

(picking up /to pick up) 10. She pretended ___________ (be) a student in order to get a

student discount. 11. She waited to ___________ (see) what would happen next. 12. The child denied___________ (steal) the piece of candy. 13. We fully intend ___________ (pay) you for all the work you

have done for us. 14. You seem ___________ (be) a little distracted. Is everything

alright? 15. Laura and Ed discussed ___________ (move) to the city to find

work; however, in the end, they decided against relocating. 16. She refused ___________ (admit)that she had made a mistake. 17. After his accident last year, he would never

consider___________ (buy) another motorcycle.

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18. Margaret just happened ___________ (find) the lost car keys while she was looking for something else.

19. He never admitted___________ (have) the wild party while his parents were out of town.

20. The doctor ordered Mr Gray ___________(smoke, not)

Glossary

Clause (n) A part of sentence that has its own subject and verb

Gerund (n) An English noun form from a verb by adding -ing.

Infinitive (n) The basic form of a verb

References

Azar, B.S. 1989. Understanding and using English Grammar. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

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