“You seem to forget that I am married, and the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties. I never know where my wife is, and my wife never knows what I am doing.” (Wilde, 1993)
“I wonder why he jumped, the old man thought. He jumped almost as though to show me how big he was. I know now, anyway, he thought. I wish I could show him what sort of man I am. But then he would see the cramped hand. Let him think I am more man than I am and I will be so. I wish I was the fish, he thought, with everything he has against only my will and my intelligence.” (Hemingway, 1993)
A Noun clause is a dependent clause that functions as a noun – a subject, object, or complement – in a sentence. It answers the question of a noun – What? A noun clause contains (1) a subject and (2) a verb. It is introduced with subordinating conjunctions how, what, or that.
e.g. It impressed me a lot how he is dealing with small kids.
In a sentence, a noun clause can have the following functions:
- Subject of an independent clause.
e.g. That she did not agree made him angry.
2. Subject complement – follows the verb “be” and renames the subject.
e.g. My biggest problem is that I don’t have enough time.
3. Object of a verb – follows an action verb.
e.g. He admitted that he made a mistake.
4. Object of a preposition – follows a preposition.
e.g. I am interested in what he is doing.
5. Adjective complement – follows an adjective.
e.g. It’s amazing how fast she recovered.
6. Noun complement – follows a noun.
e.g.The fact that she recovered so fast is amazing.
Writing Tips
- Do not use commas with noun clauses.
- To find the subject of a sentence, first find the verb and ask who or what the verb is about.
- A noun clause always begins with a conjunction, but the conjunction “that” is often implied – not stated directly. e.g. He said he loves me.
- Never use commas with the conjunction “that”.