6.2. NOMINALISING 285
Uncertainty - [X] [Y]
Finally, there will also be times when you are generally uncertain about
whether or not something is the case, or will happen. When this happens,
we can use the construction we already saw in the particle section on :
| [X] |
|---|
”I don’t know whether or not I’ll make this year’s grade.”The way this is formed is very simple. The clause about which un-
certainty is to be expressed is followed by , which is basically the
double question mentioned in the particle section for , creating (essen-
tially literally) ”[clause] or what?” The final verb then comments on the
fact that it’s not clear which of the two choices are actually to be picked.
”(I) will fail this year.””Will (you) fail this year or...?””(I) don’t know whether (I) will fail this year or not.”6.2 Nominalising
Nominalisers are those words that turn (arbitrary) words or phrases into
noun phrases, so that they can be used in larger sentences as topics, sub-
jects, direct objects or what have you. We have already seen some nomi-
nalisers in the particle section (such as , and ), and these will
be further explained in their role as nominaliser in this section. It should
be noted that most nominalisers require specific particles to follow them
in order to work the way they do, so when studying nominalisers, don’t
just study the words, but also remember which nominalisers take which
particles.