A noun clause has a
subject and verb. It is used as the subject or object in a sentence.
A
noun clause is a
dependent clause that works like a noun. You can find it as a subject or
object.
Examples :
• I read what she wrote.
• What she wrote is interesting.
A. SYNTATIC FUNCTIONS OF NOUN CLAUSE
1. A subject of verb
◦ How
he gets the money is his
own affair.
◦ Whether
(or not) he gets the money
doesn’t concern me.
The two groups of italic
words are the subject of the
sentences above.
2. An object of verb
◦ I
know that coffee grows in Brazil.
◦ I
do not know how he will get the money.
The two groups of italic
words are the object of verb of the
sentences above.
3. An object of preposition
Example sentence:
Were they punished for how they acted?
The noun clause here, “how they acted,” functions as an object of the
preposition “for.” The subject- verb combination of the noun clause is “they
acted,” and its subordinator is “how.” The independent clause is “Were they
punished for,” which by itself is not a complete sentence.
|
We were concerned about how
he will get the money.
We talked about what
a pretty girl she was.
|
4. A subjective complement
- The question is how he will get the
money.
- My understanding is that
coffee grows in Brazil.
The two groups of italic
words are the subjective complement of the sentences above.
5. An
Adjective Complement :
◦ Everybody is sad that Billy drowned.
◦ He is happy that he is learning English.
◦ We are all afraid that the final exam will be difficult.
The three groups of italic words are the Adjective Complement of the sentences above.
B. TYPES
OF NOUN CLAUSES
1.
Noun Clauses
Beginning with Question Words
|
Questions
What do you do in class?
Where does he work?
What should I do?
Who are they?
What happened?
|
Noun Clauses
What we do in class is easy.
Where he works is a secret.
I don’t know what you should do.
Mary knows who they are.
She knows what happened.
|
Noun clauses that preceded
by question words are usually used to answer a question.
Example :
Q: Where does Intan Live?.
A: I don't know where Intan lives. "Where Intan lives" is a noun clause. We can answer this question without
a noun clause by saying the following. I don't know Intan's address. The noun phrase, Sarik's address,
replaces with the noun clause, where Intan lives.
Wh- clauses begin with words like who, what, how,
whenever, which, etc.
Example :
• I need to explain what a noun
clause is.
• I don't know where Mary lives.
• Tell me how old she is.
2. Noun Clauses Beginning with Whether or If ( Yes Or No Question)
Noun clauses that preceded
by whether or if are used to answer yes/no type questions. Whether and if
are usually interchangeable. When a Yes/No question is changed to a noun
clause, whether or if is used to introduce the noun clause.
Examples:
Q: Does Judy own a Yamaha?
A: I don't know if Judy owns a Yamaha. "if Judy owns a Yamaha" is a noun clause. We could answer
this question without a noun clause by saying the following. I don't know the
answer. In this case, the noun phrase, the answer, replaces the noun
clause, if Judy owns a Yamaha.
• I don't know whether you have
studied noun clauses before.
• I don't know if you have studied
noun clauses before.
• I wonder if it will rain tomorrow.
• I wonder if it will rain tomorrow or
not.
• I wonder whether or not Mary went to
work yesterday.
• I wonder whether Mary went to work
yesterday or not.
• Whether he invites her or not is important.
3.
Question Words
Followed by Infinitive
Question words (when,
where, how, who, whom, whose, what, which) and whether may be followed by an
infinitive.
Examples :
• My mother told me where to go.
• My mother told me where I should go.
• He can’t decide whether to accept the
offer or not.
• He can’t decide whether he should
accept the offer or not.
• Please tell me how to operate this
machine.
• Please tell me how I could operate
this machine.
4.
Noun Clauses Beginning with That
Noun clauses that preceded
by that are used to answer questions in which person who is answering is
thinking, giving an opinion, or using a mental activity verb.
Examples :
• I think that the war will end soon.
• I know (that) he will be successful.
• Teachers claim that grammar is fun.
• That Mary studied very hard was obvious to John.
(That Mary studied very hard) is the
subject of the sentence.
• That pollution affects the quality of our
lives is obvious.
