Noun Clause with Examples | & Answers

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CLAUSES

What is a Clause?

A clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. It may be a sentence or the part of a sentence.

There are three kinds of clauses:

  1. Noun clause
  2. Adverbial/ Adverb clause                        
  3. Relative/ Adjective

Noun Clause with Examples

Read the following sentences:

(a) I hope that I shall pass. (noun clause)

(b) She knows what I want. (noun clause)

The underline words are noun clauses and form parts of the sentences (a) and (b).

The noun clauses answer the question what?

Note- The that-clause following the main clause ‘I hope’ is also a noun clause just as What I want’ is a noun clause which follows the main clause ‘she knows’.

Identification- Noun clauses begin with the following connectives:

(i) Pronouns: what, which, who, whom, whose.

 (ii) Adverbs: when, where, why, how.

(iii) Conjunctions: if, that, whether.

 For example:

Type-I

  • You can see what we have done.
  • I don’t know which book he has bought.
  • Can you tell me who had done it?
  • I can’t say whom I should believe.
  • Do you know whose car it is?

Type II

  • I can’t tell you when he will come.
  • I don’t know where he has gone.
  • Please tell me why he is always late.
  • Does anyone know how it has happened?

Type III

  • wonder if the weather is going to be all right.
  • I can tell you that he is a good boy.
  • She asked whether the train will leave on time.

Functions of Noun Clauses:

Noun clauses function like nouns or noun phrases. They can function as subject, object, complement, or object of a preposition, etc:

(a)        Subject:

  • What you said surprised me.
  • That he would come is seemed unlikely.
  • When she will come is uncertain.
  • How he crossed the border is a mystery.
  • Whether he will help you will be known soon.
  • Why he came here is still unknown to us.
  • What cannot be cured must be endured.Whether it will rain today is not clear.

(b)       Object:

  • He says that he will help me.
  • I don’t know who gave hint this advice.
  • She couldn’t decide what she should do.
  • Have you decided where you will go for your holidays?
  • You must learn when you should speak.
  • I asked him how I can reach that village.
  • She wondered whether she should stay any more.
  • I don’t know why he sold his house.
  • He got what he wanted.I expect that she will help us.I wish to know why he behaved in that manner.

 (c)       Complement:

  • Our belief is that he will help us.
  • This is what you are looking for.
  • This is where she works.                                   
  • The problem is how we can cross this river
  • My worry is why he should behave like that.

(d)       The object of Preposition:

  • You should pay attention to what the teacher says.
  • There is no complaint except that he comes late.
  • There is no meaning in what he says.
  • No one is aware of how he has opened the lock.
  • Everything depends on whether he helps us or not.
  • It was difficult to decide where we should go for
  • They couldn’t agree about who should do the work.
  • Do not believe in what he says.He was greatly annoyed by what I told him.

(e)        The complement of a Verb:

  • I am not sure where he has gone.
  • They are confident that they will find out the thief.
  • It is doubtful whether she will reach in time.

    It seems that he will win the race.His ambition was that he should be a doctor

(f)        The object of an Infinitive:

  • She wants to know what is going on here.
  • He came to see that he was mistaken.
  • She wanted to ask if I could help her.

(g)        In Opposition to a Noun (Noun + Noun clause)

  • The rumour that he was killed is true.
  • The idea that we should set up a factory should be pursued.
  • The fact that he has failed surprised his parents.

(h)       The object of a Participle:

  • Thinking that he would die, they took him to a hospital.
  • Hoping that they would win, they felt overjoyed.

 

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