Noun Clause
Your teachers have been telling you that a noun is a person, place or thing.
Unfortunately, some erudite linguists have demonstrated that such a definition is entirely too simple.
But since we aren’t linguists, we will lock those fellows in the closet (metaphorically speaking, of course) and hang on to the definition we know: A noun is a person place or thing
Remember !!!
1. A noun is a part of speech.
2. Subjects and objects are parts of a sentence.
3. Nouns function as subjects or objects.
4. Therefore: Nouns = subjects or objects.
Example :
The burrito gave me heartburn
(“Burrito” and “heartburn” are the nouns in this sentence. “Gave” is the verb and “burrito” is the subject.)
What I had for breakfast gave me heartburn.
(The verb is still “gave,” but the subject is a noun clause: “What I had for breakfast.”)
A sentence like the one above sends some people to the aspirin bottle.
Why isn’t the subject “I”?
Why isn’t it “breakfast”?
Remember !!!
To find the subject of a sentence, locate the verb and ask who or what about the verb.
In the sentence above, ask “what gave me heartburn?”
“I”? clearly not.
“Breakfast”? not exactly.
“What I had for breakfast”? Right.
“But wait,” you say. “I thought a noun was a person place or thing”?
It is. Think about “what I had for breakfast” as being a thing or things.
Examples :
What the English teacher said was downright inspiring.
(this noun clause is used as a subject)
The wonderful thing about English teachers is that they all get along so well.
(this noun clause is used as a subject complement)
I must decide which English course to take.
(this noun clause is used as a direct object)
English teachers dispense wisdom to whoever will listen.
(this noun clause is used as object of preposition)
Dependent signals which introduce noun clauses
Who Whom
Whose Which
That if
Whether What
When Where
How Why
And various forms of “-ever”:
Whoever Whenever
Whatever Wherever
suvihsuchan 