A Noun Clause Is a Clause Which Does the Work of a Noun in a Sentence

Noun Clause

A noun clause is a clause which does the work of a noun in a sentence. It is a group of words containing a subject and a verb of its own. Usually noun clauses begin with that, what, where, when, who, whom, which, whose, how, why, whether, etc.

Examples:

He said thathe would not come.
We were all curious to know what he had done
Nobody knows when the registration will begin.
We all wanted to find out who the winner was.
Whom they were in contact with on the day of the robbery is of greatinterest to the police.
Jane is not sure which university she should apply for.
The judges had a hard time decidingwhose painting was the best.
How the baby fell from the window is a mystery.
They asked the boy why he had hit his classmate.
Whether you like it or not is not the issue.

Uses of Noun Clauses

Noun Clauses can be used in the following ways:

a. As the subjectof a verb

Why she kept on crying / puzzled / every one.
noun clause / main verb

b. As the direct object

Nobody / knows / how he got involved in gangland activities
verb / noun clause

c. As the complement of the verb "to be"

What we are worried about is that he may have another heart attack.

The question is why they could escape through the front door when there were so many guards there.

Exercise

Underline all the noun clauses you find.

Inaugural Address by President John F. Kennedy, given in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 1961. Accessed from

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.

We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

This much we pledge--and more.

Bitten by snake, suicidal man surrenders. San Francisco Chronicle. March 1, 2005. Accessed from

A suicidal man with a shotgun who kept more than a dozen sheriff's deputies at bay for three hours Monday in a remote area south of Los Gatos finally surrendered after being bitten by a snake, the Santa Clara sheriff's office said.

The incident began at about 2 p.m. when the suspect's mother called authorities and said her son was threatening to kill himself.

Arriving deputies saw the man dash into the woods near the family's home in ChemeketaPark, holding the shotgun, said deputy Terrance Helm.

Deputies and crisis negotiators talked to the man on and off for more than three hours by cell phone but were unable to persuade him to give up.

At about 5:30 p.m., the suspect told deputies he had been bitten by a snake and was willing to surrender. He was taken into custody, treated at ValleyMedicalCenter and booked for brandishing a firearm. He told deputies he had buried the shotgun.

Inexplicable airport "security". Wendy Seltzer. January 24, 2004. Accessed from

Travelling back from Cape Town, and the fascinating IDLELO conference on the African digital commons (more on that later), I had to pass through Atlanta's Hartsfield-JacksonAirport. Apart from the glaring lack of wifi, the airport was notable for an odd addition to passenger screening: As we queued for the TSA belt, there was a foot-testing platform outside, where we could see for ourselves whether our shoes would beep in the screening line.

What purpose does the foot-tester serve, other than to illustrate the paradoxes of so-called security? I imagine passengers complained that they didn't know whether or not to remove their shoes, so someone decided to give them a helping foot.

But if the foot-tester device is accurate (and it'll cause more frustration than help if it's not), then it serves as an oracle, letting good guys and bad guys alike determine whether they're likely to be picked up. I stepped on and off several times without being questioned. A would-be shoe bomber could probably use a more sinister variation: If the machine beeps, walk away; try again later with cooler shoes; repeat until the machine stays silent. The tester makes it easier for bad guys to see the detection devices' limit and tailor their implements of destruction just below that cutoff.

I tend to doubt the value of most of the so-called security measures we're subjected to in airports, but I'd rather see them removed than modified in bizarre feel-good ways. As it is, this foot-tester seems to create more risks than it solves. Have I missed something?

Answers