STUDY THE FOLLOWING:
A noun clause is a clause that functions as a noun; because the noun clause is a noun, it is used in a sentence as either an object of a verb, an object of a
preposition, or the subject of the sentence. WRITE DOWN THE STRUCTURE FOR EACH EXAMPLE.
a) I know what you did! _________________________
b) What you did was wrong! ____________________________
EXERCISE1: Each of the following sentences contains more than one clause. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Circle the connectors. Put boxes
around the noun clauses. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I)
1. When the season starts is determined by the weather.
2. The manual, how the device should be built.
3. The schedule indicated if the teams would be playing in the final game.
4. He refused to enter a plea could not be determined by the lawyer.
5. Talked about where we should go for lunch.
6. Why the condition of the patient deteriorated so rapidly it was not explained.
7. Whether or not the new office would be built was to be determined at the meeting.
8. That the professor has not yet decided when the paper is due.
9. The contract will be awarded is the question to be answered at the meeting.
10. He always talked with whomever he pleased and did whatever he wanted.
ERROR CORRECTION EXERCISE. Some of the lines in this letter contain a Word(s) that shouldn’t be there. Write the word in the column on the right. If a line is
correct. Put a tick (/).
1 When he saw Mrs Thompson in the morning, he told to her _______________________
2 what had happened and she was obviously quite angrily but he tried hardly not to show it. _______________________
3 He apologised to her all through breakfast, and then he went into the living room to wait for his _______________________
4 girlfriend, that was upstairs for getting dressing. He sat down on what he _______________________
5 thought was a cushion in an armchair. When he has got up five minutes _______________________
6 more later he realised it was not a cushion, but the family’s Pekinese dog. _______________________
7 Unfortunately, by then, it was already too much late and to his horror he _______________________
8 saw it was death. He could not face the family again and left the house _______________________
9 without seeing Gwendolyn. In the end they both married others two people. _______________________
Objective: To recognize noun clauses and identify their function in a sentence.
A noun clause is a subordinate clause that functions as a noun.
Noun clauses can function as subjects, but they are more commonly used as objects of verbs of [telling, feeling, and thinking]. These noun clauses frequently
begin with the word “that”.
Put a box around the noun clauses and indicate whether they function as subjects (S) or objects (0). For example:
The weatherman said [that it would rain.] [That it rained] is not surprising
_______ The doctor said that the man would get well quickly _______ That it rained so much this year is fortunate for farmers
_______ Everyone hopes that the world will remain at peace. _______ The teacher feels that the students are progressing well.
_______ That Fred got the best grade on the quiz surprised everyone. _______ That woman said that she was angry.
_______ Charles believes that his opinions are not important. _______ That the world was flat used to be an established fact.
_______ That man feels that he is better than everyone else. _______ The advertisement states that this product stops perspiration.
_______ That no one eat her special dish upset the hostess. _______ Archeologists believe that these artifacts are old.
_______ The class argue that the test was unfair _______ That the building burned down is a terrible shame.
_______ Researchers believe that they have isolated an important virus. _______ The policeman claimed that the woman was speeding.
_______ The experiment showed that the boiling points of the two liquids _______ That the Loch Ness monster exists has not been proved.
differ.
_______ The instructions state that the toy car needs two batteries _______ The company knows that its employees will go on strike soon
