NOUN CLAUSES: SUBJECT, OBJECT AND COMPLEMENT
We are going to talk this time about a grammatical resource of great importance in the English language: A noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun in a sentence. But, that sounds complicated, doesn't it? So.. let's break it down!
We can used the noun clause as a subject or an object. See the following examples:
Also, we have the subject complement and the adjective complement. See the following examples:
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NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH "THAT"
![Imagen](/uploads/2/8/4/6/28461075/6428364.jpg)
We use the word that to introduce the noun clauses.
Example: That these prices are so high is outrageous.
In this example, that-clause is the subject of the sentence.
Instead of “that” we can also use the fact that.
When introduces and object noun clauses we can omit the word that However it can't be omitted if it is in the subject position.
- subject: That the world is round is a fact.
- object: We know that the world is round.
- subject complement: Harry's problem was that he couldn't make a decision. (describing what the problem was)
- adjective complement: I was upset that she couldn't come. (explaining why Jennifer seemed angry)
NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH "QUESTION WORDS"
A question that is changed to a noun clause is called an embedded question. We use statement word order in embedded questions, not question word order.
Embedded questions are more polite than direct questions. Example of Direct Question:
Example of Embedded Question:
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An embedded question can occur within a statement or within another question. Notice the difference in punctuation. See the following examples:
When we see an embedded questions don't use do, does, or did.
Let's see some examples
Simple Question / Embedded Question
- When did he discover it?
- I’m not sure when he discovered it.
- Where did he discover it?
- Where he discovered it is not known.
- Why did he discover it?
- -I don’t care why he discovered it.
- How did he discover it
- -I’m not certain how he discovered it.
- Who is Faraday?
- -I don’t know who Faraday is.
- Whose discovery is that?
- It is not certain whose discovery that is.
- What did he discover?
- -What he discovered is not certain.
NOUN CLAUSES BEGINNING WITH "WHETHER OR IF"
We use if and whether (or not) to introduce embedded yes/no questions. If and whether (or not) are similar in meaning and can often be used interchangeably. Let's see some examples.
Question: Will her solution work?
Question: Did they believe him?
NOTE : We don't use if to introduce a subject noun clauses
Question: Will her solution work?
- He wonders whether her solution will work.
- He wonders if her solution will work.
Question: Did they believe him?
- I don’t know whether they believed him.
- I don’t know if they believed him.
NOTE : We don't use if to introduce a subject noun clauses