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NTLTL
There's a problem confusing me for quite a long time. Any help'll be grateful There's a sentence:"What our astronauts desire to do is walk in space." I 've seen such expression off and on as "What clause+is+verb(as predicate)+...". I sometimes talk in this way too. But wouldn't it be wrong in grammar? cause "is" can be a predicate. I'm confused.Thanks to all of you. I really appreciate it. I understand "what" clause is a subject clause. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. What confused me was the verb following "is" like "walk" in this case. If walk is a noun it is no problem. but if it's a verb how could I explain it in grammar rule? such as this: " What I have to do is do it right now." With your help, it really dawned on me that it's an infinitive construction with an ommitable "to" like 一 said. It took me some efforts to understand Luis' words. So in strictly written English, it could be "What I have to do is to do it right now."

Answers · 11

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what 是主语啊, cause 可以是谓语 比如 who give it to you is a student.(给它给你那个人是个学生),如果你不这样表达,怎么样表达呢?
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Thanks to all of you. I really appreciate it. I understand "what" clause is a subject clause. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. What confused me was the verb following "is" like "walk" in this case. If walk is a noun it is no problem. but if it's a verb how could I explain it in grammar rule? such as this: " What I have to do is do it right now." With your help, it really dawned on me that it's an infinitive construction with an ommitable "to" like 一 said. It took me some efforts to understand Luis' words. So in strictly written English, it could be "What I have to do is to do it right now."
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It's a bloody good sentence. I love English.
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The structure is correct, and it requires the is/are. You have here the following structure: A is B What our astronauts desire to do ----- is ----- walk in space. Just like any other "A is B" clause, you CANNOT omit the is/are.
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"Is" is exactly the "predicate" of the sentence, while "walk" actually not.

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