Noun Clauses Lesson: Definition, Types & Examples

Lesson Overview

• What Is a Noun Clause?
• How to Identify a Noun Clause
• Words That Begin Noun Clauses (Introductory Words)
• Noun Clauses as Subjects and Objects
• Turning Questions into Noun Clauses (Embedded Questions)

Understanding noun clauses can be tricky at first, but don't worry! This lesson will break down what noun clauses are, how to use them, and help you avoid common mistakes. We'll use clear examples, fun practice questions, and easy explanations. By the end, you'll be confident in spotting and using noun clauses correctly.

What Is a Noun Clause?

A noun clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and acts as a noun in a sentence. In other words, a noun clause is like a mini-sentence inside a larger sentence, working as a single noun unit. It's a type of dependent clause, which means it cannot stand alone as a complete sentence (it depends on the rest of the sentence to make sense).

Key points about noun clauses:

• A noun clause has a subject and a verb (just like a sentence does).
• It does not express a complete thought on its own (it's a fragment if alone).
• It functions as a noun in the sentence. This means it can be a subject, an object, or a complement in a sentence, just like regular nouns or pronouns.

Example:
I know **what you did**.
Here, what you did is a noun clause:

• "you" is the subject inside the clause, and "did" is the verb.
• The clause "what you did" is acting as the object of the verb "know" (it answers "know what?" – what you did).
  If you replace the clause with a simple noun or pronoun, the sentence still makes sense: "I know that." (meaning I know something.) This shows what you did is functioning like a noun.

More Examples of Noun Clauses in Sentences

• Subject of a sentence: What he said made us laugh.
  (The whole clause "What he said" is the subject of the sentence. What made us laugh? – What he said.)
  
• Direct object of a verb: We don't understand why the experiment failed.
  (The clause "why the experiment failed" is the object of "understand." Understand what? – Why the experiment failed.)
  
• Subject complement (after a linking verb): The truth is that I forgot my homework.
  (The clause "that I forgot my homework" follows the linking verb is and describes "The truth.")
  

Tip: A quick way to check if a clause is a noun clause is to try replacing it with a pronoun like it or something. If the sentence still makes basic sense, then that clause was acting as a noun.
Example: "Whatever you want is fine with me." → "It is fine with me." (Makes sense, so "Whatever you want" is a noun clause.)

How to Identify a Noun Clause

When reading a sentence, here's how you can spot a noun clause:

1. Look for clue words at the beginning of a clause. Noun clauses often begin with certain words (such as that, what, when, where, who, why, how, if, whether, etc.). These words signal that a dependent clause might follow.
   
   • Examples of noun clause starters: that, what, whatever, who, whoever, whom, where, why, when, how, if, whether.
2. Find the subject and verb in that group of words. If you see both a subject and a verb following the clue word, you likely have a clause.
   
   • Example: "I heard what you said." After what, we have subject "you" and verb "said."
3. Determine the clause's role in the sentence. Ask yourself if that clause is acting as a thing or idea in the sentence (something that could be replaced by it). If yes, it's a noun clause.
   
   • Example: "Do you know when the show starts?" The clause "when the show starts" has subject "the show" and verb "starts." What role does it play? It's what is known (object of "do you know"). Try replacing it: "Do you know it?" (It = when the show starts). It fits, confirming it's a noun clause.

Quick Check: Identify the noun clause in the following sentence:
Samantha wonders whether her friends will **come to the party**.

• Answer: The noun clause is "whether her friends will come to the party." It starts with the clue word whether, has a subject ("her friends") and verb ("will come"), and acts as the object of wonders (Samantha wonders something). If we replace the clause with "it," the sentence becomes "Samantha wonders it" – which shows that clause is used like a noun (though the full meaning is in the clause).

Words That Begin Noun Clauses (Introductory Words)

Not every sentence will contain a noun clause, but when they do, they usually start with specific words. Here are common words that introduce noun clauses, and how they are used:

• That – introduces a statement or fact in a noun clause.
  

 Example: The teacher said that we have a quiz tomorrow.
(Here "that we have a quiz tomorrow" is a noun clause acting as the object of said. That itself doesn't have a meaning here; it's just a connector. Sometimes, especially in speaking or informal writing, that can be left out: "The teacher said we have a quiz tomorrow." Both mean the same thing.)

• Question words (wh- words) – introduce noun clauses that come from direct questions:
  
  • what, when, where, who, whom, which, whose, why, how.
    

 Example: I wonder what my gift is. ("what my gift is" answers what I wonder, so it's a noun clause.)

 Example: Do you remember how we solved this problem? ("how we solved this problem" is a clause answering remember what?.)

• If / Whether – introduce a yes/no question in a noun clause. Use these when the original question is a yes-or-no question (one that could be answered with "yes" or "no").
  

 Example: Jenna asked if she could borrow my book. (This comes from the yes/no question "Could she borrow my book?" Now embedded as a noun clause after asked.)

 Example: We haven't decided whether we will go to the park. (Comes from "Will we go to the park or not?" Whether often implies "or not," and it can be used interchangeably with if in many cases.)

• "-ever" words – whoever, whatever, whichever, whenever, wherever, however can start noun clauses that are more general or indefinite. These mean "anyone who," "anything that," etc.
  

 Example: Whoever finishes first will get a prize. (Here the noun clause "Whoever finishes first" is the subject of the sentence, meaning "the person who finishes first.")

 Example: You can choose whatever you want for dinner. ("whatever you want" is the object of choose, meaning "anything that you want.")

Knowing these introductory words will help you recognize noun clauses easily. When you see one of these words starting a clause, check if a subject and verb follow and if the clause acts like a noun in the sentence.

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Noun Clauses as Subjects and Objects

Just like regular nouns, noun clauses can play different roles in a sentence. The two most common roles you'll see are as subjects or objects.

• Noun Clause as a Subject: The noun clause comes at the beginning of the sentence and the whole clause is the subject (the thing doing the action or being described).
  

 Example: What we learn today will help us tomorrow.
(What will help us tomorrow? – "What we learn today." This entire clause is the subject of the verb "will help.")

Example: That it was all a mistake became clear later.
(What became clear? – "That it was all a mistake." The clause is the subject of "became.")


Note: When a noun clause is the subject, you'll often see it introduced by that or an "-ever" word. If the clause starts the sentence, we usually keep the word that rather than omitting it, to clearly signal the clause. 

For instance, "That she won the contest was surprising." (We wouldn't drop that in this case, because "She won the contest was surprising" sounds incorrect without a connector.)

• Noun Clause as an Object: The noun clause comes after a verb or preposition, acting as the object (receiver of an action or the thing being talked about).
  

 Example (direct object of a verb): My friend explained what the game rules are.
(Explained what? – "what the game rules are." The clause is the object of explained.)

Example (object of a preposition): We talked about what we would do during summer vacation.
(Talked about what? – "what we would do during summer vacation" is a clause acting as the object of the preposition about.)

Example (object of a verb): I don't know if the library is open.
(Don't know what? – "if the library is open." The clause is the object of don't know, and it's introduced by if because the question was "Is the library open?".)

• Noun Clause as Subject Complement: This is a bit more advanced, but sometimes a noun clause follows a linking verb (like is, are, was, were) and renames or describes the subject.
  

 Example: The hope is that we will win the championship.
(Here the noun clause "that we will win the championship" comes after the linking verb is and tells us what "The hope" is. It complements the subject by providing more information about it.)

In all these cases, the noun clause is functioning as a single unit (a person, place, thing, or idea). It helps to ask the question what? or who? about the verb: if the answer is a full clause, that clause is likely a noun clause.

Quick Check: Which part of this sentence is a noun clause?
Whatever the teacher said made the students curious.

• Answer: "Whatever the teacher said" is the noun clause. It's at the start of the sentence, acting as the subject of the verb made. (You can test it: replace it with "it" – "It made the students curious." Yes, that makes sense, confirming it was a noun-like unit.)

Turning Questions into Noun Clauses (Embedded Questions)

One common use of noun clauses is to take a question and embed it inside a larger sentence. This often happens when we report questions or when we ask something politely or indirectly. These are sometimes called embedded questions. Students often find this tricky because the word order changes from a direct question. Let's break down how to do this correctly.

Imagine you have a direct question you want to include in another sentence. There are two cases:

1. Questions that start with a question word (what, where, why, who, how, etc.)
2. Yes/No questions (questions that could be answered with "yes" or "no").

1. Embedded WH- Questions (Information Questions)

For questions that already begin with a question word (like what, where, when, who, why, how), the noun clause will start with that same word, but the rest of the clause should be ordered like a normal statement, not a question.

• Direct question: Where is my notebook?
• In a noun clause: …where my notebook is. 

(Notice "my notebook is" instead of "is my notebook.")

When you turn it into a noun clause inside a sentence, do not use a question mark and do not invert the subject and verb. The question word becomes a connector, and the clause uses regular subject-verb order.

Examples:

• Direct: What is inside the box?
  Embedded: I wonder what is inside the box. → ("what is inside the box," not "what is inside the box?" since it's now part of a statement.)
  
• Direct: Why did he leave early?
  Embedded: She asked why he left early. → (We drop "did" and just say "he left" in the noun clause. The clause "why he left early" is now the object of asked.)
  
• Direct: Who will be the team captain?
  Embedded: They want to know who will be the team captain. → (The clause "who will be the team captain" functions as what they want to know.)
  

Steps to form an embedded WH-question clause:

1. Keep the question word (what, where, who, etc.) at the beginning of the noun clause.
2. Use normal statement word order after that. That means subject comes before the verb. Do not swap them as you do in a question, and don't use helping verbs like do/does/did for past/present simple questions inside the clause.
3. No question mark needed in the middle of the sentence. The entire sentence might be a statement or a question, but the noun clause itself is not punctuated as a question.

Common Mistake: Keeping question word order inside a noun clause. For example:

• Incorrect: I wonder where is my sister. (Sounds wrong because within the statement "I wonder ...", the clause should not be in question order.)
• Correct: I wonder where my sister is. (Subject "my sister" comes before verb "is".)

Quick Check: Which sentence is correct?
A. Do you know what time is it?
B. Do you know what time it is?

• Answer: B is correct. We say "what time it is" (statement order) not "what time is it" inside the larger question. In sentence B, "what time it is" is a noun clause acting as the object of Do you know. In sentence A, the word order is wrong for an embedded question.

Another Common Mistake is using question helpers like do/does/did inside the noun clause. If the direct question was in a form that used these (for example, "Where does he live?" or "What did he say?"), you drop those helping verbs in the noun clause and adjust the main verb tense if needed:

• Direct: What did he say? → Embedded: I didn't hear what he said. (Not "what did he say.")
• Direct: Where does Anna live? → Embedded: Can you tell me where Anna lives? (Not "where does Anna live". We remove does and put lives after the subject Anna.)

Quick Check: Convert the direct question to a noun clause within a sentence: "Why did the computer stop?"
Which is correct?
A. We're trying to figure out why did the computer stop.
B. We're trying to figure out why the computer stopped.

• Answer: B is correct. The embedded clause should be "why the computer stopped" (normal order, no did). So the full sentence is "We're trying to figure out why the computer stopped."

2. Embedded Yes/No Questions (using if or whether)

For questions that can be answered with yes or no (for example: "Is it raining?", "Did he finish his homework?"), there is no question word to bring into the noun clause. Instead, we use if or whether to introduce the noun clause. These words mean essentially the same thing in this context (whether is often a bit more formal or used when there are two possibilities).

• Direct yes/no question: "Is the store open?"
  
• Noun clause (embedded): I wonder if the store is open. (Using if to start the clause, and then normal order "the store is open".)
  
• Direct question: "Will our team win?"
  
• Embedded in sentence: They asked whether our team will win. (Using whether to start the clause "whether our team will win".)
  

Rules for yes/no question noun clauses:

1. Start the noun clause with if or whether (you can usually use either; whether is often used when you want to emphasize the two possibilities or in more formal speech/writing, and whether or not can also be used to highlight "or not" explicitly).
2. As with wh- clauses, use statement word order after if/whether (subject then verb, no question format, and no do/does/did helper).
3. The clause becomes a noun (often an object) in the larger sentence.

Examples:

• Direct: Did she pass the test?
  Embedded: I'm not sure if she passed the test.
  (The clause "if she passed the test" is the object of I'm not sure. We use if, and we say "she passed" not "did she pass".)
  
• Direct: Are they coming to the party?
  Embedded: Please let me know whether they are coming to the party.
  (Here we used whether. The clause "whether they are coming to the party" is what I want to know. Notice the subject "they" comes before the verb "are coming.")
  
• Direct: Has the movie started?
  Embedded: Do you know if the movie has started?
  ("if the movie has started" is the noun clause, object of know.)
  

Tip: A quick test for yes/no noun clauses is to see if you can add "...or not" after it (at least in meaning). For example, "I wonder if it will rain (or not)." This shows it's addressing a yes/no situation. With whether, you sometimes explicitly say "whether or not": I wonder whether it will rain or not.

Quick Check: Which is the better way to complete the sentence? "She asked me ___ I could help her."
A. that
B. if

• Answer: B. if. For a yes/no question (implicit question: "Could you help me?"), we use if (or whether) to start the noun clause. That is not used to report yes/no questions. The correct sentence is "She asked me if I could help her."

(Using "that" here would be incorrect. That is used for statements, not to introduce a yes/no question clause.

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Changing Questions into Noun Clauses