We have learned about how dependent clause works. Now I would like to share the function of the noun clause.
Firstly, there are mainly three types of the dependent clause.
- Noun clause
- Adjective clause
- Adverb clause
I want to share some knowledge about noun clause in today’s post.
Noun clause
It is a dependent clause, which acts as a noun. In other words, it is a combination of the definition of the noun and the definition of the clause. The relative pronouns used in noun clauses are majorly the question words such as what, where, why, how etc.
So why would we use noun clauses?
We often use them to ask a question, to answer a question, and to add emphasis.
For example: Do you know who she is?
Here we can understand that the question mark mentioned in the above sentence is for “do you know” but not for the word “who ”in the noun clause.
When I started learning the noun clause, I often made this mistake by writing “do you know who is she” then I understand that a formal question has subject-verb-object syntax and a noun clause has subject-object-verb.
For example: who is she? – An ordinary question
Do you know who she is? - A sentence with noun clause
How to construct a noun clause
We use some words to construct a noun clause, some of which are what, where, whom, whatever, who, whoever, when etc.
Noun clause as an object
Here noun clause acts as an object in a sentence. It may be a direct object or an indirect object.
Consider the same example:” Do you know who she is?”
Here the object is noun clause “who she is”.
“I don’t understand why you said that” the object here is “why you said that”
“I am not sure what this is” that object here is “what this is”
Noun clause as a subject
For example: What I told her is come to party next weekend.
Here, “ What I told her is” is the noun clause which is acting as a subject of the sentence.
In addition, remember that “What I told her is” is a noun clause and it does have an another subject in it.
“Whether I get it or not shows how much effort I put into it”
Noun clause as a subject complement
We give more information about a subject when we use “be” verb and a noun clause.
This comes with Subject + be + noun clause.
For example: “ Home is where I want to be”
Here “ where I want to be” is a subject complement. In other words home = where I want to be.
“She is not what you think”
Noun clause as an object of a preposition
Here, the object attaches to a preposition and not to a verb. Preposition takes an object as a noun clause to complete the idea of the sentence.
“The post is about how to use the noun clauses.” Here about is a preposition that is dealing with the noun clause to complete the sentence.
“The computer can be used for whatever you want.”
That clause
This clause can be used to complete an adjective. The adjectives like essential, possible, and awful.
For example, It is inevitable that the world has been changing.
It is amazing that we can learn more from the internet.
I hope this helps for ESL students. When I started preparing for the English language test, I learned that it is very important to understand how to construct a complex sentence. Therefore, since then, I have been studying and understanding the complex sentence structures.
I would be very glad if anyone could gain some knowledge from my post. If there are any suggestions please let me know. I would be glad to accept and learn more