Fill in the blanks with an appropriate subordinating conjunction.
1. I don’t know …………………… he is innocent.
We use whether to introduce indirect yes/no questions.
2. ………………………. she will come I am not sure at the moment.
When an indirect question is fronted, we use whether, not if.
3. I asked …………………….. she had met me before.
Both whether and if can be used to introduce indirect yes/no questions.
4. This is the closet ………………………. she keeps her things.
We need a place word here.
5. The consequence of his stupidity was ……………………….. he soon lost his money.
That is merely a connector. When we split the sentence into two clauses, we get: He soon lost his money. It was the consequence of his stupidity. We can combine them with that.
6. She is beautiful. She is equally intelligent. That means she is as beautiful as ………………..
Both clauses have the same pattern in this structure.
7. A cottager and his wife had a hen …………………….. laid a golden egg every day.
Both that and which can be used to refer to animals, birds or things.
8. He ran so quickly ……………………… he soon overtook me.
The conjunction so…that… is used to indicate ideas such as effect or purpose.
9. He spoke in ……………………… a low voice that nobody could hear him.
We use such before 'adjective + noun'.
10. Tell me what …………………………. done?
In indirect questions, the auxiliary verb goes after the subject.
11. ……………………….. you are drunk aggravates your offence.
That-clauses are not normally used alone as subjects. They are often introduced by the expression ‘the fact’.
12. They paid no attention to ………………………. she was depressed.
That-clauses after prepositions are introduced by ‘the fact’.
Answers
1. I don’t know whether he is innocent.
2. Whether she will come I am not sure at the moment.
3. I asked whether / if she had met me before.
4. This is the closet where she keeps her things.
5. The consequence of his stupidity was that he soon lost his money.
6. She is beautiful. She is equally intelligent. That means she is as beautiful as she is intelligent.
7. A cottager and his wife had a hen which / that laid a golden egg every day.
8. He ran so quickly that he soon overtook me.
9. He spoke in such a low voice that nobody could hear him.
10. Tell me what you have done?
11. The fact that you are drunk aggravates your offence.
12. They paid no attention to the fact that she was depressed.
