Use of That-clause with Certain Nouns

Question

Can rule be followed by a that-clause like possibility can?

Are both of the following sentences correct:

There is a possibility that life exists on other planets.
There is a rule that people take their shoes off before entering a place of worship.

Yes, with certain nouns. Specifically, with the class of noun called Picture Nouns, which are related to predicates that take complements, like possible (It's possible that it will rain today). When nouns are derived from such predicates, they may inherit the predicate's complement-taking ability. — John Lawler, May 05 '15 at 14:22
@JohnLawler But what such predicate is rule related to? I can't think of any… — Janus Bahs Jacquet, Jul 04 '15 at 14:57

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 06 '14 at 10:33

1

Yes, absolutely. That is a common construction. (See Ngrams)

answered Nov 06 '14 at 10:33

mikeagg

I'm wondering what the grammar term for this kind of that-clause is. – rogermue Feb 04 '15 at 11:34
It's called a noun phrase complement, or NP complement. They're just predicate complement clauses with a noun related to a complement-taking verb. Ross discusses them in his dissertation. – John Lawler Apr 30 '16 at 13:57

score -1 · Answer 2 · answered May 05 '15 at 13:11

-1

"It is said that...", "It is true that..."

Yes, a very common construction.

answered May 05 '15 at 13:11

HugMyster

Be true and be said are verb phrases; verb phrases frequently take that complements. Noun phrases, not so much. – John Lawler May 05 '15 at 14:18

2 Answers2