 This suggests that clauses such as “that Sam is sad” can only flank the identity sign if they are governed by expressions such as “the fact”, “the proposition”, “the belief”. The suggested analysis of our definite descriptions may be motivated by the assumption that “the fact that Sam is sad” is derived by nominalising “It is a fact that Sam is sad” and the assumption that in the latter sentence “It is a fact” takes “that Sam is sad” to make a sentence.