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Noun clauses have a simple structure:

However, just like nouns, noun clauses are not complete sentences all by themselves. As we saw in the previous section, a noun clause is used as either the subject of a sentence or an object. That means that you need additional words to form a complete sentence.

Noun Clauses as Subjects

If the noun clause is acting as the subject of the sentence, then you still need a verb (and possibly other words) to make a complete sentence.

For example:

That she is telling the truth should be obvious to everyone.

In this sentence, the noun clause, "That she is telling the truth," is the subject of the sentence. We make a complete sentence by adding the verb, "should be" and the other words, "obvious to everyone."

Noun Clauses as Objects

While noun clauses can serve as the subjects of a sentence, they usually serve as objects. When they are objects, you need to have a subject and verb in order to make a complete sentence.

For example:

I need to know if the meeting has been cancelled.

In this sentence, the noun clause, "if the meeting has been cancelled," is the object of the verb, "need to know." We make a complete sentence by having a subject and verb, "I need to know," before the object.

Punctuation and Noun Clauses

Because the noun clause only serves as the subject or object, it is only one part of the sentence. You need to look at the whole sentence to know if it is a question or a statement. This will show you what punctuation to use.

If we look at our last example:

I need to know if the meeting has been cancelled.

You can see that the noun clause is like a question. However, the subject and verb are in statement order, so you use a period (.) to end the sentence.

If the subject and verb form a question, then you will use a question mark (?) at the end of the sentence. For example:

Do you know if the meeting has been cancelled?

How to use Grammar Online What is a Noun Clause? How to form a Noun Clause When to use a Noun Clause Reported or Quoted Speech Samples of Noun Clause usage Final Unit Exercise

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