Teacher Silvino Sieben 3rd grade of HS

Definition & Meaning

A noun clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb; however, it cannot stand alone as a sentence.

There are just three basic types of noun clauses:  Those that start with a question word such as

where, how, who, when and why .

 Those that start with

whether

or

if .

 Those that start with that.

Examples of the noun clause:

Where

does John live?

A noun is a word used to name a

If

John buys a Ferrari

That

Mr. Smith is a good teacher person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.

 Sometimes the introductory word may be left out, as in I wish I knew the reason. (i.e,, “I wish that I knew the reason.”)

Noun Clauses

 Any clause that functions as a noun becomes a noun clause .

Look at this example: You really do not want to know the ingredients stew.

in Aunt Nancy's Ingredients = noun.

 If we replace the noun “ingredients” noun clause: with a clause, we have a You really do not want to know what Aunt Nancy adds to her stew.

What Aunt Nancy adds to her stew = noun clause.

1) A noun clause can be as a subject of a verb:

Thomas

made her angry.

"Thomas" is a proper noun, functioning as the subject of this sentence.

sentence.

That he had even asked her

made her angry.

The clause "that he had even asked her" is the subject of this sentence noun clause

2) A noun clause can be as a

direct object

: We discovered his arrogance.

"Arrogance" is the object of "discovered." sentence.

We discovered

what he had asked her

.

The clause "what he had asked her" is the object of the verb "discovered" in this sentence.

noun clause The object is the person or thing that is affected by the action of the verb.

3)A noun clause can be as an

indirect object

: We showed

the professor

the error.

"The professor" in this sentence is the indirect object, and "the error" is the direct object.

I made

you

some coffee.

The direct object is usually a thing and the indirect object is usually a person In the noun clause “you” is the indirect object, and “coffee" is the direct object. Remember that the direct object should answer the question, "What did I make?" while the indirect object answers, "To whom did I make it?"

4) A noun clause can be as an

object of a preposition

: She found fault in his

question

.

"Question" is the object of the preposition "in." sentence.

She found fault in

what he had asked her

.

The clause "what he had asked her" is the object of the preposition "in" in this sentence.

noun clause about, above, across, after, along, among, around, at, before, behind, below, beside, between," beyond, but, by, into, like, off, on, out

5) A noun clause can be as an

object of a complement

: You can call him a

villain

.

The word "villain" is an object complement that describes the indirect object "him." sentence.

You can call him

what you wish

.

The clause "what you wish" can take the place of "villain" as object of a complement.

noun clause

 To change a

statement

to a noun clause use

that

: I know + Billy made a mistake = I know that Billy made a mistake.

 To change a

yes/no question

to a noun clause, use

if

or

whether

: George wonders + Does Fred know how to cook? = George wonders if Fred knows how to cook.

 To change a

wh-question

to a noun clause, use the

wh-word

: I don’t know + Where is George? = I don’t know where George is.