A noun is used as a subject or
an object
A noun clause is used as a
subject. In other words, a noun clause is used in the same ways as a noun.
A noun clause is a clause
functioning as a noun. It has its own subject and verb.
Example:
a. His story was interesting
(Story is a noun used
as the subject of the sentence)
What he said was interesting
(What he said is a
noun clause. It is used the subject of the sentence)
b. I
heard his story
(Story is a noun. It
is used as the object of the verb heard)
I heard what he said
(What he said is a
noun clause. It is used the object of the verb heard)
WORDS used to introduce noun
clauses:
1. Question
Words:
When who
Where whom
Why what
How which
Whose
2. Whether,
If
3. That
A. NOUN
CLAUSES WHICH BEGIN WITH A QUESTION WORD
Example:
Q: Question NC: Noun Clause
·
Q : Who lives there?
·
NC: I don’t know who lives there
·
Q : Who is she?
·
NC: I don’t know who she is
·
Q: What did she say?
·
NC: What she said surprised me.
B. NOUN
CLAUSES WHICH BEGIN WITH WHETHER OR IF
Example:
FUNCTION AS OBJECT
Will she come? - I don’t know whether she will come
- I
don’t know if she will come
Does he need help? - I wonder whether he needs help
- I
wonder if he needs help
FUNCTION AS SUBJECT
- Whether she comes or not is not
important for me
C. QUESTION
WORDS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES
Question words (when, where, how, who, whom, whose, what,
which) and whether may be followed by infinitive.
NOUN CLAUSE AS THE OBJECT
1.
I don’t know what should I do
I don’t know what to do
2.
Please tell me how I can get to the bus station
Please tell me how
to get to the bus station
3.
Jim told us where we could find it
Jim told us where to find it
D. NOUN
CLAUSES WHICH BEGIN WITH THAT
Example:
1.
-
Statement:
He is a good actor
- Noun
Clause:
I think that he is a good actor
I think he is a good actor
{(That) he is a good actor is
the object of the sentence)
2.
-
Statement:
She doesn’t understand spoken English
- Noun
Clause:
That she doesn’t understand spoken
English is obvious
{That she doesn’t understand
spoken English is the subject of the sentence)
Source : Buku Seri Diktat Kuliah, Bahasa Inggris 2, Gunadarma
