Analysis.
The +noun clause+ may be used as +subject+.
1. That the earth is round has been proved.
That
--------
'
earth | is ' \ round
-------|--------------
\the | |
|
/ \ | has been proved
=============|=================
|
+Explanation+.--The clause _that the earth is round_ is used like a noun as
the subject of _has been proved_. The conjunction _that_ [Footnote: "_That_
was originally the neuter demonstrative pronoun, used to point to the fact
stated in an independent sentence; as, It was good; he saw _that_. By an
inversion of the order this became, He saw _that_ (namely) it was good, and
so passed into the form _He saw that it was good_, where _that_ has been
transferred to the accessory clause, and has become a mere sign of
grammatical subordination."--_C. P. Mason._] introduces the noun clause.
This is a peculiar kind of complex sentence. Strictly speaking, there is
here no principal clause, for the whole sentence cannot be called a clause,
_i.e._, a part of a sentence. We may say that it is a complex sentence in
which the whole sentence takes the place of a principal clause.
2. That the same word is used for the soul of man and for a glass of gin is
singular.
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