A noun clause modifier

Question

That the museum cancelled the lecture, which is quite surprising, disappoints me.

A noun clause consists of subordinating conjunction followed by a clause
Does " which is quite surprising" consist of subordinating conjunction and the subordinating conjunction followed by a clause which is "disappoints me"?

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Let's build the sentence, a bit at a time, to make sense of it.

We start with the "core" of the sentence.
1 Some fact disappoints me.
You see that the main verb is "disappoints" and the complement is "me."

Now we add a relative clause to explain what the "fact" is:
2. The fact that the museum cancelled the lecture disappoints me.

Now we "fuse" the relative pronoun with "the fact." This creates the fused relative clause, a noun clause. That clause becomes the subject of the verb "disappoints."

3. That the museum cancelled the lecture disappoints me.

Now there is a "commentary" clause (an adjunct, totally superfluous) inserted. It seems to be a modifier of "the fact," or the entire (subject) noun clause. So it is a non-defining relative clause set off by commas.
Some fact, which is quite surprising, disappoints me.

That the museum cancelled the lecture, which is quite surprising, disappoints me.

Amir Oghlow · Answer

Why is "which is quite surprising" non-defining?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Amir OghlowWhy is "which is quite surprising" non-defining?

Because you can remove it without loss of any key information.

Compare:
The fire destroyed the house that was built in 1881. (defining, - it is essential to specify which house we are talking about.)
My grandfather's house, which was built in 1881, was destroyed by fire. (non-defining - It gives additional, nonessential information.)

CalifJim · Answer

Amir OghlowWhy is "which is quite surprising" non-defining?

It has no definite antecedent. In particular, it is not the lecture which is quite surprising. It's the whole situation in which the lecture is cancelled that is surprising.

CJ

A noun clause modifier

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