Sentence Complexity and Embedding

Subordinate Noun Clauses

Activity 15.2: Identifying Noun Clauses

Find the answer to each question and underline it.  What structure is used in the answer?

What is obvious?

The problem is obvious. Noun phrase
That we need money is obvious. Noun clause
What we should do is obvious. Noun clause

What do you know?

I know the culprit. Noun phrase
I know that Ted stole the money. Noun clause
I know who stole the money. Noun Clause

What should we give a chance?

We should give her idea a chance. Noun Phrase
We should give what Molly suggested a chance. Noun clause

What did you talk about?

We talked about the debate. Noun phrase
We talked about what Megan said. Noun clause

What was his position?

His position was a ridiculous stance. Noun phrase
His position was that no one should pay any taxes. Noun clause
His position was what caused the Revolution. Noun clause

What do most people consider Herb’s position?

Most people consider Herb’s position a fool's dream. Noun phrase
Most people consider Herb’s position what caused the Great Depression. Noun clause

What is the position?

His position, a ridiculous stance, became a plank in the party platform. Noun phrase
The position that no one should pay taxes became a plank in the party platform. Noun clause

The sentences in Activity 15.2 should demonstrate that clauses can, indeed, function in the ways that nouns usually function in a sentence.  The answers to the what questions above result in either nouns, noun phrases, or full clauses, which we may call noun clauses.  As we look at the noun clauses in the sentences above, we discover that our previous device for distinguishing a subordinate clause from a main clause has become inadequate, and we discover that the elementary school definition of a complex sentence is also insufficient.  Let’s look more closely at the two clauses in sentences that include noun phrases.

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