Noun Clauses
Ever since you first toddled into a school house door, your teachers have been telling you that
a noun is a person, place or thing.
Unfortunately, some erudite linguists have demonstrated that such a definition is entirely too
simple.
But since we aren’t linguists, we will lock those fellows in the closet (metaphorically
speaking, of course) and hang on to the definition we know: A noun is a person place or
thing.
Remember
1. A noun is a part of speech.
2. Subjects and objects are parts of a sentence.
3. Nouns function as subjects or objects.
4. Therefore: Nouns = subjects or objects.
Example:
The burrito gave me heartburn.
("Burrito" and "heartburn" are the nouns in this sentence. "Gave" is the verb and "burrito" is the subject.)
But What About This One?
What I had for breakfast gave me heartburn.
(The verb is still "gave," but the subject is a noun clause: "What I had for breakfast.")
A sentence like the one above sends some people to the aspirin bottle.
Why isn’t the subject "I"?
Why isn’t it "breakfast"?
Remember
To find the subject of a sentence, locate the verb and ask who or what about the verb .
In the sentence above, ask "what gave me heartburn?"
"I"? clearly not.
"Breakfast"? not exactly.
"What I had for breakfast"? Right.
"But wait," you say. "I thought a noun was a person place or thing"?
It is. Think about "what I had for breakfast" as being a thing or things.
Let's look at some more examples:
(the noun clauses are underlined)
What the English teacher said was downright inspiring.
(This noun clause is used as a subject.)
The wonderful thing about English teachers is that they all get along so well.
(This noun clause is used as a subject complement)
I must decide which English course to take.
(This noun clause is used as a direct object.)
English teachers dispense wisdom to whoever will listen.
(This noun clause is the object of a preposition or the indirect object)
Also known as a
‘complement’