| A noun is used or an object.
A noun clause is used as a subject or an object. In other words, a noun clause is used in the same ways as a noun. |
| (a) His story was interesting.(b) What he said was interesting. | In (a): story is a noun. It is used as the subject of the sentence.
In (b): what he said is a noun clause. It is used as the subject of the sentence. The noun clause has its own subject (he) and verb (said). |
| (c) I heard his story.(d) I heard what he said | In (c): story is a noun. It is used as the object of the heard.
In (d): what he said is a noun clause. It is used as the object of the verb heard. |
| WORDS USED TO INTRODUCE NOUN CLAUSES(1)question words :* (2) whether (3) that
When who if
Where whom
Why what
How which
whose |
7-2 NOUN CLAUSES, WHICH BEGIN WHIT QUESTION WORD
| QUESTION NOUN CLAUSE
Where does she life? (a) I don’t know where she lives.
What did he say? (b) I couldn’t hear what he said
When do they arrive? (c) Do you know when they arrive?
|
In (a): where she lives is the object of the verb know. Do not use question word order in a noun clause. In a noun clause, the subject precedes the verb.
Notice:does, did, and do are used in questionsbut not in noun clause.
|
| S V S V
Who lives there? (d) I don’t know who lives there.
What happened? (e) Please tell me what happened.
Who is at the door? (f) I wonder who is at the door. |
In (d): The word order is the same in both the question and the noun clause because who is the subject in both. |
| V S S V
Who is she (g) I don’t know who she is?
Who are those men? (h) I don’t know who those men are.
Whose house is that? (i) I wonder whose house that is. |
In (g): she is the subject of the question, so it is placed in front of the verb be in the noun clause..* |
| What did she say? (j) What he said surprised me.
What should they do? (k) What they should do is obvious. |
In (j) : what he said is the subject of the sentence.
Notice in (k) :A noun clause subject tales om somgi;ar verb (e, g, is). |
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