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Like other clauses, a noun clause has both a subject and a verb. It takes the place of a noun in the sentence.
Take the following sentence for example.
(1). I know Mary.
Mary is a noun.
Now, compare sentence (1) with the following:
(2). I know what she does.
In the second sentence, "what she does" has
taken the place of a noun, Mary.
"What she does" is an adverb clause: it has both a subject (she) and a verb
(does)
Exercise: now replace what she does with some
other noun clauses.
Example: I know where she lives. (or) I know when she married.
Note that noun clauses in the
above examples are not questions: they are statements.
A noun clause is a noun by nature; thus, it takes all the functions of a noun:
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1. Subject |
What she did confused me. Where they live is a secret. |
|
2. Object of Verb |
I finally understood what evil
intentions she had. They know how to handle their problems. |
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3. Object of
Preposition |
She will think about how she may clear
her name. They closed their eyes on what they saw. |
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4. Subject Complement |
The question is where she lives. the problem was how we could help her
out. |
In all the examples used above, a wh-word has started the noun clause. Besides wh-words, that and
whether can function in noun clauses. Notice the following examples:
I know Mary.
I know that she is a student.
That she is a student is known to me.
I do not know Mary.
I don not know whether she has got her masters
or not.
They could not find out whether she was innocent or not.
Noun Clauses from Statements
Replace the word this in one sentence with a noun clause formed from the other sentence.
Women are inferior men. Her husband believes this. We will have peace in the near future. This seems very doubtful. A broken mirror will bring seven years bad luck. This is a popular superstition. He doesn’t really try. This seems quite clear. |
Noun Clauses from yes/no Questions
“Did you lock the front door?” Mr. Jones’ wife asked him this? Is he a rich man? This is not known even to his relatives. Will the audience laugh at the new clown? We talked about this. Has she bought the house? We asked each other this. Can he do the job by herself? This is not known. |
Noun Clause from Wh-word Questions
Where were you born? I would like to know this Why did you leave your wife? This will never be understood by your friends. Whom should we invite to the party? We were wondering about this. When did you stop for lunch? I asked them this. What will he buy me for my birthday? This determines many things. |
Where did he go? I don’t know…………………….. What is his name? I wonder………………………………… How long should I wait for Henry? Do you know……………………… Which play did you find most interesting? I can hardly say…………….............. Why does everyone love Mary? I do not understand……………………….
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