noun clause

 NOUN CLAUSES

1.      INTRODUCTION

independent 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. Examples (a) and (b) are complete sentences. (a) is a statement, and (b) is a question.
dependent clause ©   where Sue lives	A dependent clause (or subordinate clause) is not a complete sentence. It must be connected to an independent clause. Example © is a dependent clause.
indep. cl.        depend. 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 a dependent clause connected to a independent clause. 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 sentence. 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)     I listened to his story.          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.

^*A phrase is a group of words that does NOT contain a subject and a verb.

2.      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. I a noun clause, the subject precedes the verb. Do not use question word order in a noun clause. Notice: does, did, and do are used in questions, but not in noun clauses.
S       V Who lives there ? What happened ? Who is a t the door ?	S      V (d)    I don’t know who lives there. (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.
V   S Who is she ? Who are those men ? Whose house is that ?	S    V (g)     I don’t know who she is. (h)     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).

3.      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 whether 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 is quite commonly used, especially in speaking.)
	© 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 ©, (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.

4.      QUESTION WORDS FOLLOWED BY INFINITIVES

(a)   I don’t know what I should do. (b)   I don’t know what to do. (c)    Pam can’t decide whether she should go or stay home. (d)   Pam can’t decide whether to go or (to) stay home. (e)    Please tell me how I can get to the bus station. (f)     Please tell me how to get to the bus station. (g)   Jim told us where we could find it. (h)   Jim told us where to find it.

Question words (when, where, how, who, whom, whose, what, which) and whether may be followed by an infinitive. Each pair of sentences in the examples has the same meaning. Notice that the meaning expressed by the infinitive is either should or can/could.

5.      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 he 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 sentence. The word that is not omitted when it introduces a noun clause used as the subject of a sentence, as in (d) and (f). More commonly, the word it functions as the subject and the noun clause is placed at the end of the sentence, as in (e) and (g).

6.      USING –EVER WORDS

The following –ever words give the idea of “any.” Each pair of sentences in the examples has the same meaning.

whoever         (a)  Whoever wants to come is welcome.                              Anyone who wants to come is welcome. who (m)ever    (b)  He makes friends easily with who(m)ever he meets.*                              He makes friends easily with anyone who(m) he meets. whatever        ©   He always says whatever comes into his mind.                             He always says anything that comes into his mind. whichever      (d) There are four good program on TV at eight o’clock. We can watch                              whichever program (whichever one) you prefer.                              We can watch any of the four programs that you prefer. whenever       (e)  You may leave whenever you wish.                             You may leave at any time that you wish. wherever       (f)  She can go wherever she wants to go.                             She can go anyplace that she wants to go. however        (g) The students may dress however they please.                             The students may dress in any way that they please

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 sumber : 

using and Understanding English Grammar 3rd edition by betty Schrampfer Azar

digunakan dalam mata kuliah B.ing. dosen Dr. Kurnia