NOUN CLAUSES
Prepared by vmhuetn@gmail.com
TOEFL class
1. Overview
A subordinate clause
Include a clause marker, a subject and a verb
Examples:
I don’t understand what you are saying.
She does not know whether they would release her child
1. Overview
Functions
Subject
How life began has been a topic of debate for many years.

Subject complement
A little mass gives a lot of energy, and this is why nuclear power is so abundant.

Direct object
In 1978 scientists discovered that the planet Pluto has a satellite.

Object of a preposition
Microeconomics is concerned with how wheat prices rise while cotton prices fall.
2. Subordinators / clause markers
How
However
How long
How many
How much
How often
How soon
If
That
What / Whatever
When / Whenever
Where / Wherever
Whether (or not)
Which / Whichever
Who / Whoever
Whom / Whomever
Whose
Why
3. Noun clauses beginning with Wh_
Wh-: when / where / why / how / who / whom / what / which / whose
Examples
I don’t understand what you are saying.
I am not certain how he discovered it.
I don’t know who she is.
It is not certain whose discovery that is.
4. Noun clauses beginning with Whether / If
Yes / No question → noun clause, “whether / if” is used to introduce the clause
Examples
She does not know whether they would release her child
We do not know if the weather will be fine tomorrow.
5. Noun clauses beginning with
That / The fact that
Sometimes “the fact that” is used in stead of “that” when the noun clauses are the subject of a sentence.
Examples
We know (that) the earth goes around the sun.
That the world is round is a fact.
Faraday argued that electricity in a wire produced a magnetic effect.
(The fact )that she had decided to refuse the prize surprised everybody.
6. Reduced noun clauses
How society should distribute goods is a central economic problem in any society.
→ How to distribute goods is a central economic problem in any society. (infinitive phrase)

In children’s games, the leader tells the others what they must do.
→ In children’s games, the leader tells the others what to do. (infinitive phrase)
7. TOEFL strategy
A part of the noun clause is missing from the stem. The missing may be the introductory word, the subject, the verb, or the whole noun clause.
Tips:
Look for correct word order.
Check if the noun clause has a subject and a verb.
Find the subordinator for the noun clauses.
7. TOEFL strategy

Noun clause or not noun clause

Sharks were once thought to be instinctive killing machines, but it is now believed .....
A. they learn to hunt by experience
B. that learn to hunt by experience
C. learning to hunt by experience
D. that their learning to hunt by experience
7. TOEFL strategy
Select correct subordinators

......... standardized tests discriminate against certain types of students has been argued since the 1970s.
A. There are
B. Unless
C. That
D. The

Many scientists have shown ........ can be used for an ever-increasing number of tasks.
A. that lasers how
B. lasers how
C. how lasers
D. that what lasers
7. TOEFL strategy

Verb tense in the noun clause vs. verb tense in the main clause

Last week Alfred asked where we will go.
The end