A clauseis a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate. Some clauses can express a complete thought whereas some clauses cannot. Clauses that express a complete thought and stand alone as sentences are known as independent clauses. The clauses that cannot express a complete idea are known as subordinate clauses or dependent clauses.
Subordinate clauses can be mainly divided into three categories based on their functions. They are noun clauses, adjective clauses, and adverbial clauses. In this article, we are focusing our attention on noun clause.
A noun clause, like other clauses, is a group of words that includeS a subject and a verb. As a dependent clause, it must be connected to an independent clause to form a complete sentence. A noun clause functions as a noun, which means it can be a subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, predicate nominative, or appositive. One point to bear in mind is a noun clause is not a noun modifier.
You now know that noun clauses can be used a subjects, direct objects, objects of prepositions, and complements in sentences. We also introduce them with certain words or markers. The word order in a noun clause is always the normal order of subject + verb, even if the noun clause begins with a question word. The download will give you more opportunities to practice understanding and using noun clauses. Having trouble finding the subject or object in a sentence?
This is also important if you're in university or taking a test like IELTS or TOEFL. As a writer, I focus my attention on the many elements we use to build great sentences and paragraphs. I've broken down this advanced part of English grammar and will teach it to you simply—so you can understand and use the noun clauses in your own writing.
I'll show you many examples of noun clauses, so you can see the noun clause in context. Take the quiz to practice identifying the types of noun clauses in example sentences. A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun. They cannot stand alone and need to be part of an independent clause to form a complete sentence. Noun clauses can be used in the same way as nouns.
This means they can be subjects, objects, or complements in a sentence. A noun clause refers to a clause that serves the same purpose as a noun and is usually dependent. Just like nouns do, a noun clause names people, things, places, and ideas. Noun clauses typically have a verb and a subject, but they cannot express a complete thought in a sentence; hence they are known as dependent clauses. Since noun clauses cannot form complete sentences, they are usually used together with an independent clause.
This article gives in-depth insights on noun clauses and the examples of noun clauses. A noun clause is a dependent clause that acts as a noun. Noun clauses begin with words such as how, that, what, whatever, when, where, whether, which, whichever, who, whoever, whom, whomever, and why. Noun clauses can act as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, or objects of a preposition.
A dependent, or subordinate, clause contains a subject and a verb or verb phrase but does not express a complete thought. As a result, it cannot stand alone as a sentence. Dependent clauses can function either as noun clauses, adjective clauses, or adverb clauses. The noun clause is a clause that functions like a noun in the sentence. Remember that a noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.
Nouns can function as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, object of the preposition, and predicate nominatives. In writing, it is important to recognize the different types of clauses, or groups of related words. It contains a subject, verb, and a complete thought.
A dependent clause is not a complete thought. It is combined with an independent clause to create a complex sentence. There are several different types of dependent clauses, including relative, noun, and adverbial.
Noun clauses may seem very similar to relative clauses but are different and can be easy to identify. First, other dependent clauses work as adverbs or adjectives; this does not. Second, remember that a noun clause is the noun of the sentence, whereas a relative clause will be dependent on the noun of the sentence. Finally, a noun clause is always essential to the sentence. There are times that a relative clause can be removed, but a noun clause is the noun and must be present. The bolded noun clauses are dependent clauses.
Unlike independent clauses, they can't stand alone as full sentences. Noun clauses function to add more details to a sentence. If you're not sure whether a clause is a noun clause, try replacing it with other nouns or pronouns. Adjective, adverb, and noun clauses contain a subject and a verb. They function as adjectives, adverbs, and nouns using pronouns or subordinating conjunctions. Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as direct objects although nonfinite noun clauses again perform the function infrequently.
Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as direct objects. Conjunctions are "words that link words, phrases, and clauses." A subordinating conjunction is a conjunction that introduces a subordinate or dependent clause. Subordinating conjunctions that introduce noun clauses are also referred to as noun clause markers. The subordinating conjunctions in English that introduce noun clauses are that , if, whether, wh- words, wh-ever words, and sometimes for. Other dependent clauses act as adjectives and adverbs.
We can remove them and still have a complete independent clause left, with a subject and verb and any necessary complements. They make up the subjects direct objects and indirect objects in a sentence along with other roles. Like a noun or a noun phrase a noun clause also works as the subject of a sentence. Look for a question word to link the clauses. Most of the time, noun clauses start with a question word, sometimes called a subordinating word.
The word can either be a relative pronoun, which acts as a noun, or a subordinating conjunction that introduces a dependent clause. This word links the 2 clauses together and addresses a question from the independent clause. A noun clause serves a similar role as a noun. To quickly identify a noun clause in a sentence, one can look for words like whoever, why, whatever, whichever, what, how, and many more. A noun clause can either act as a subject or an object. Objects include; prepositional objects, indirect objects, and direct objects.
Most people are comfortable with the idea of a noun, but they may not feel so confident when it comes to the noun clause. A noun clause is a group of words acting together as a noun. That is, they do not form a complete sentence. Take a look at some sample sentences containing noun clauses to understand their purpose and function.
Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as subject complements. Some grammars use the term nominal clause for noun clauses. See if you can determine the function of the hilighted dependent clause in each of the following passages. A relative clause is an adjective clause that describes a noun.
A noun clause acts as the noun in the sentence. It can be the subject or object of the verb, object of preposition, or an adjective complement. These nominal clauses are examples of dependent clauses—in contrast to independent clauses, those clauses that function as complete sentences." This shows that shaded clauses in the first three examples are functioning as nouns, making them noun clauses. Like any noun, a noun clause can be a subject, an object, or a complement.
In a sentence, a noun clause will be a dependent clause. In other words, a noun clause does not stand alone as a complete thought. Remember that intransitive verbs do not take direct and indirect objects, so you will only find noun clauses used as the objects of transitive verbs. This post has considered one of the major sub-types of the subordinate clause or the dependent clause, the noun clause with its types, functions and examples.
Ensure you check the two other sub-types, the adverbial clause and the relative clause. Do not forget to check the post, what is a clause as it would help you put all the sub-types in perspective. Remember to share this post and others with your friends by using our Social Media share buttons. Simple sentences like "I went to school" only have an independent clause. Complex sentences, which have 1 independent clause and at least 1 dependent clause, can contain noun clauses. An adverb clause provides a description and functions as an adverb.
It contains a subject and a verb but it does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. Adverb clauses answer questions of how, when, where, and why. Adverb clauses start with a subordinating conjunction. Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as prepositional complements. Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as object complements although nonfinite noun clauses perform the function infrequently.
The nonfinite, or unconjugated, verbs in the noun clauses are to finish , singing , and eat . Notice also that the object pronouns function as the subject of the nonfinite noun clause when the verb is an infinitive or present participle. The nonfinite, or unconjugated, verbs in the noun clauses are to wash , to come , reciting , singing , and eat . A conjunction is a word that joins other words, phrases, or clauses. Subordinate conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses. Some common subordinate conjunctions are after, although, as, as if, because, before, if, since, so that, than, unless, until, when, where, and while.
Clauses are groups of words that have both subjects and predicates. Unlike phrases, a clause can sometimes act as a sentence – this type of clause is called an independent clause. While the independent clause could be used by itself as a complete sentence, the subordinate clause could not. The term "noun clause" might sound confusing, but finding and identifying one is much easier than you might think. Simply put, a noun clause is a dependent clause that takes the place of a noun in the sentence. A dependent clause is a phrase that can't stand on its own as a complete sentence.
If a dependent clause can stand in for a person, place, or thing, then it's a noun clause. By breaking down the sentence into simpler parts, you can find noun clauses easily. With a bit more work, you can identify the 5 types of noun clauses and how they operate in a sentence.
In this pair of examples, we have two clauses to look at. In example we have a noun clause functioning as a direct object, and a noun clause that is a subject. In example , the first clause is an adjective clause modifying 'cousin', and the second clause is an adverb clause modifying 'applying'.
Noun clauses function in any way that a one-word noun can function. They are great additions to a sentence when you want to provide more information and vary your sentence structure. Compare noun clauses to different types of clauses with a guide to teaching adverbial and adjective clauses. An adjective clause is also known as a relative clause. This clause provides a description and functions as an adjective. Adjective clauses are placed after the noun it is modifying.
Only finite noun clauses can function as adjective phrase complements. Subordinating conjunctions that introduce noun clauses are that , if, whether, wh- words, wh-ever words, and sometimes for. Noun clauses may be either finite or nonfinite in form. Use a semicolon between two independent clauses that are connected by conjunctive adverbs or transitional phrases. Similar to the prepositions, each of these sentences could be complete before the conjunctions . The adjective complement provides further detail.
Besides, in each of these examples, these adjective complements are noun clauses. A noun phrase is a group of words that function as a single noun. Noun phrases act as subjects, direct objects, or prepositional objects in a sentence.
For this activity, identify whether each of the given sentences is an independent or a dependent clause. For sentences that are dependent, specify whether they are relative, noun, or adverbial clauses. To do this, you must right-click and print this page. With a pencil and an eraser, neatly write your answers in the blank space provided. Knowing how to identify relative clauses will help you avoid this type of fragment.
