"I am glad/sorry/happy that you made the trip."
Would everybody agree that "that you made the trip" is an adverb clause modifying glad/sorry/happy?
"Jim was so elated that he did a little dance."
Would everybody agree that "that he did a little dance" is an adverb clause modifying "so"?
My sense is that most grammarians today prefer to reserve "adverb" for modifiers of verbs only. When such modifiers are clauses ("I stayed home because I was sick"), they are called either "adverb," "adverbial," or "subordinate" clauses. But in looking through various books, I do not find much discussion of clauses such as those above.
A final question: can anyone think of a subordinator OTHER than "that" that introduces a clause modifying an adjectival subjective complement such as glad/sorry/happy above?
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/