Noun Clause 6

What is a Noun Clause?

A noun clause is a 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.

Look at the sentence below:

Be sure to send whoever interviewed you a thank-you note.

The phrase ‘whoever interviewed you’ is a noun clause. It can be replaced by a noun - in this case, the name of a person, say Robert.

You can replace the entire noun clause with Robert.

Ex: Be sure to send Robert a thank-you note.

Sample Question

Q. Do you know for sure ___________________?

(A) who framed Roger Rabbit
(B) that who broke the vase
(C) that whoever framed Roger Rabbit
(D) if whoever is breaking the vase

Answer

(A) who framed Roger Rabbit - in this sentence, like in the previous example we are talking about a person who did something.

What are the other ways?

Noun clauses can take many forms. Here are a couple

1. A characteristic - Example: My greatest asset is that I am a hard worker.In writing,

2. A time - Example: I am packing food for when we get hungry.

Noun clauses usually provide answers to questions. These are really helpful in Reading Comprehension sections.

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