Noun Clause

Yannya bIndependent clause      (a) Sue lives in Tokyo Independent clause      (b) Where does Sue live?	A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb. An independent clause (or main clause) is a complete sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a sentence. (a) is a statement, and (b) is a question
Dependent clause      (c)                       Where Sue lives?	A dependent (or subordinate clause) is not a complete sentence. It must be connected to an independent clause. Example © is a dependent clause.
Indep.cl      dependent cl      (d)  I know where Sue lives.	Example (d) is a complete sentence. It has an independent clause with the main subject (I) and verb (know) of the sentence. Where Sue lives is called a noun clause
Noun phrase      (e)  His story was interesting                   Noun clause      (f)   What he said was interesting	A noun phrase is used as a subject or an object. A noun clause is used as a subject or an object. In other words, a noun clause is used in the same ways as a noun phrase. In (e):  His story is a noun phrase. It is used as the subject of the sentences In (f):  What he said is a noun clause. It is used as the subject of the sentence. The noun clause has its own subject (he) and verb (said)
Noun phrase      (g) I heard his story                      Noun clause      (h)  I heard what he said	In (g):  his story is a noun phrase. It is used as the object of the verb heard In (h):  what he said is a noun clause. It is used as the object of the verb heard
Noun phrase      (i) listened to his history                 Noun clause      (j)    I listened to what he said	In (i):  his story is a noun phrase. It is used as the object of the preposition to In (j):  what he said is a noun clause. It is used as the object of the preposition to.

INTRUDUCTION 

Noun clauses beginning with a question word

QUESTION Where does she live? What did he say? When do they arrive?	NOUN CLAUSE (a) I don’t know where she lives (b) I couldn’t hear what he said (c)  Do you know when they arrive?	In (a):  where she lives is the object of the verb know. In a noun clause, the subject precedes the verb. Do not use question word order in a noun clause. Notices: does, did, an do are used in questions, but not in noun clauses. See Appendix Unit B for more information about question words and question forms
S         V Who lives there? What happened? Who is at the door?	S                V (d) I don’t know who lives ther (e)  Please tell me what happened (f) I wonder who is at the door	In (d):  The word order is the same in both the question and the noun clause because who is the subject in both.
S              V Who is she? Who are those men? Whose house is that?	S                   V (g) I don’t know who she i (h) (a) I don’t know who those men are (i) I wonder whose house that is	In (g):  she is the subject of the question, so it is placed in front of the verb be in the noun clause.
What did she say? What should they do?	(j)   What she said surprised me (k) What they should do is obvious	In (j):  What she said is the subject of the sentence. Notice in (k):  A noun clause subject takes a singular verb (e,g.,is)

Noun clauses beginning with that

STATEMENT He is a good actor The world is round	NOUN CLAUSE       (a)      I think that he is a good actor      (b)       I think he is a good actor     (c)  We know (that) the world is round	In (a): that is a good actor is a noun clause. It is used as the object of the verb think. The word that, when it introduces a noun clause, has no meaning in itself. It simply marks the beginning of the clause. Frequently it is omitted, as in (b), especially in speaking. (if used in speaking, it is unstressed)
She doesn’t understand spoken English. The world is round	(d)   That she doesn’t understand spoken                English is obvious        (e)       It is obvious (that) she doesn’t             understand spoken English       (f)      That the world is round is a fact       (g)     It is a fact that the world is round	In (d): The noun clause (that she doesn’t understand spoken English) is the subject of the sentences. The word that is not omitted when it introduces a noun clause used as the subject of a sentences, as in (d) and (f). More commonly, the word it functions as the subject and tahe noun clause is placed at the end of the sentence, as in (e) and (g)

Noun clauses beginning with whether or if

YES/NO QUESTION Will she come? Does he need help?	NOUN CLAUSE (a)      I don’t know whether she will come          I don’t know if she will come (b)     I wonder whether he needs help          I wonder if he needs help	When a yes/no question is changed to a noun clause, whether or if is used to introduce the clause. (note: Whether is more acceptable in formal English, but if quite commonly used, especially in speaking)
	(c)      I wonder whether or not she will come (d)     I wonder whether she will come or not (e)     I wonder if she will come or not	In (c), (d), and (e): Notice the patterns when or not is used
	(f)       Whether she comes or not is unimportant to me	In (f): notice that the noun clause is in the subject position

http://sarahlistiarakhma.wordpress.com