I come across a sentence like this,
"He's having trouble finishing the assignment."
I'm wondering if the clause "finishing the assignment" is
A) An adverbial clause of time or
B) A noun complement clause
To me, it's likely to be B) a noun complement cl. which tells the reader more about the head noun "trouble", explaining what kind of trouble (i.e. the "content" of the trouble) he is having.
However, according to a grammar book by Biber, he said a noun complement can realized in one of the four ways, i.e.
1) that clause
2) to-infinitive clause
3) "of" + -ing clause (e.g. "He had no intention OF singing at anyone's 21st birthday")
4) wh- clause
If my view is correct, it violate the grammar "rules" by missing "of" before the -ing (gerund)
Could someone share your opinion here?
Many thanks.
About Noun complement clause?
2012-02-08 6:04 am
回答 (3)
2012-02-08 6:51 am
✔ 最佳答案
"Finishing the assignment" is not a clause of any kind; it is a gerund phrase only. Remember that a clause has to have a subject and a verb. An "-ing" word is never a verb by itself.The gerund phrase is an object complement: it completes the direct object "trouble." You can think of it as adjectival in nature.
2016-05-16 6:07 pm
The sentence is a simple question and does not qualify as a clause. To be a noun clause, it has to go this way: 1. "Do you know who authorized this program?" where "who authorized this program" is a legitimate noun clause functioning as a direct object of the verb "know". 2. "What he said is not true". This time "What he said" is also a noun clause functioning as the subject of the predicate compliment "not true" joined by the linking verb "is".
2012-02-08 6:17 am
I agree with your analysis.
To use your example:
He had no intention OF finishing the assignment, works perfectly well.
As does:
He's having DIFFICULTY/PROBLEMS/A LAUGH/HYSTERICS finishing the assignment."
All of which demonstrate that 'trouble' is not an exception here.
I think that the rule you cite: "of" + -ing clause can equally well be used without the 'of'' as we have demonstrated.
Thanks for the question.
To use your example:
He had no intention OF finishing the assignment, works perfectly well.
As does:
He's having DIFFICULTY/PROBLEMS/A LAUGH/HYSTERICS finishing the assignment."
All of which demonstrate that 'trouble' is not an exception here.
I think that the rule you cite: "of" + -ing clause can equally well be used without the 'of'' as we have demonstrated.
Thanks for the question.
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