A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun.
You may remember that a noun is a person, place or thing. But a noun can also be a group of words that serve in a noun role, such as a subject or an object.
Here’s an example:
What I just ate didn’t agree with me.
In this example, the noun clause, What I just ate, is the subject of the sentence, not I or me. This is just one example of how a clause may function as a noun.
The 8 functions of noun clauses
Noun clauses perform eight different functions.
1. Noun clause as subject
The noun clauses in the following examples act as subjects:
“Whoever took my book is going to get it.”
“How you get to work on time is not my concern.”
2. Noun clause a subject complement
A subject complement follows a verb and describes the subject. For instance:
“The fact is we lost all the money.”
“My concern is how you are going to get it back.”
3. Noun clause as direct object
Direct objects receive the action of a transitive verb:
“My teacher wonders if she is in the right career.”
“Our children eat whatever you feed them.”
4. Noun clause as object complement
An object complement follows and describes a direct object:
“She knew the man he would become.”
“I wanted the one thing I couldn’t have.”
5. Noun clause as indirect object
An indirect object is the recipient or target of the direct object:
“Your father will give what you said some thought before making a decision.”
(thought is the direct object of give. what you said is the target of the direct object thought.)
“She has given what I said strong consideration.”
6. Noun clause as prepositional complement
These phrases act as the object of a preposition in a prepositional phrase:
“I tend not to find comfort in what other people say.”
“I can’t stop thinking about what you did.”
7. Noun clause as adjective phrase complement
These words and phrases complete the meaning of an adjective phrase:
“I am happy you are taking an interest in grammar.”
“I am worried my health is declining.”
8. Noun clause as an appositive
An appositive simply describes another noun phrase:
“The person, whoever it was, took my seat.”
“The accusation, that I stole your jacket, is absurd.”
Noun clauses that begin with if or wh-words
Noun clauses often begin with what, how, that, whenever, wherever, whatever, whoever, why, which, and if.
These are common words and phrases that often signal a noun clause is coming. Here are a few examples:
“I heard what you said but I do not agree.”
What you said is the noun clause. Heard is the verb; you is the subject.
“Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”
The noun clause is “Whatever you want.” The noun clause is the subject in this sentence.
“I wonder what the weather will be like tomorrow.”
What the weather will be like tomorrow is the noun clause, acting as a direct object.
“Even though I am full, my problem is that I like to eat ice cream.”
That I like to eat ice cream is the noun clause
Know is another word commonly paired with noun clauses:
“I thought you should know what I saw earlier today,” or “Do you know where we are going?”
A noun clause is a subordinating clause
A noun clause is not considered a stand-alone sentence. It is a type of dependent clause that relies on an independent clause to complete the thought.
The concept of a subordination is important to the noun clause as it establishes one sentence as being more important than another when two sentences are combined.
The following subordinating words can be used to connect clauses:
As if, as soon as, unless, until, while, how, whose, whom, where, what, although, because, before, after, though, even though, so that.
The following example illustrates how the subordinating words makes a noun clause dependent:
“As soon as we get there it will all make sense.”
The word group as soon as subordinates the clause we get there to the main clause it will all make sense. The two clauses together form a complete thought.
Noun clauses are quite common in our daily speech. However, it can be a complex task to define and classify all the different forms. You don’t need to master this classification to improve your writing, but knowing the different functions of a noun clause gives you a richer vocabulary for discussing problems and opportunities when structuring your sentences.