The ESL HELP! Desk

Before you begin the activities, you may want to study the podcast and grammar lesson, He's Always Talking about Grammar , also in our Library.

What Is a Noun Clause?

 

A noun clause is a group of words that functions as a noun and that contains, within it, a noun and a verb. A noun clause, like any noun, can be used as a subject or an object. 

Noun clauses can begin with:

• that

• a question word

• question word + an infinitive phrase

• whether or if

• quoted (reported) speech

Rules

    

For noun clauses, follow the standard subject-verb word order of a declarative statement.

• that:
  
  Gregory thought that his natural mother was an unfit mother.
                                         subject                   verb
  
  He also believes that the politicians who are his friends now might not want to continue to help him.                                           subject                                                   verb
  
  Even now he continues to write to his grandparents and say that their life here is good.  He writes that his father is very busy,
  
  The Indian wanted to show Aram that he could find greater pleasure if he stopped to see how beautiful everything is.
  
  No matter how unhappy I am about it, I still have to do some things that I dislike.
  

• question word + infinitive phrase:
  
  It is important to know how to keep your love alive.
                                  question word       infinitive phrase

• question word:
  
  The idea, how one's own child could disinherit him, originally sounded ridiculous to me.
                  question word     subject            verb
  
  Corleone understands what damage evil can do, and how much drugs will affect society as well as his own business.  question word     subject      verb       question word     subject     verb
  
  Before we marry somebody, we already know much about how that person behaves.
                                                                                    question word     subject        verb
  
  I remember how nervous I was competing in my first piano competition.
  
  

• (to) suggest that, (to) recommend that:
  Place the verb in its base form, regardless of s-v agreement.
  
  I was looking at all the road signs when my girlfriend suggested that I stop and take a look around at how pretty everything is.
  
  My girlfriend was looking at all the road signs when I suggested that she stop and take a look around at how pretty everything is. 

Sequence of Tenses in Noun Clauses

 

As with indirect speech, when the main verb is in the past tense, the sequence of tenses applies.

Click here for more information about the Sequence of Tenses, also known as back-shift.

Example: 

• The Indian wants to show Aram that he can find greater pleasure if he stops to see how beautiful everything is.

• The Indian wanted to show Aram that he could find greater pleasure if he stopped to see how beautiful everything is.

Next... Noun Clauses Quiz

In our next

 In our next lesson, we have a quiz on Noun Clauses: Word Order and Verb Tense for you .

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