AI Tutor
What if an entire multi-word idea—complete with its own subject and verb—could disguise itself as a single noun inside a sentence?
A clause is any group of words containing a subject and a predicate verb, and a noun clause is a dependent clause that performs the exact job of a standard noun.
Most noun clauses start with signal words like that, what, whoever, whether, how, or why.
Where can this 'super noun' actually sit in your sentence? Let's start at the very front.

Noun Clauses as Subjects

When a noun clause acts as the subject, it performs the action or anchors the main verb of the entire sentence.
Because a noun clause functions as a single collective idea, it almost always takes a singular verb in academic writing.
Subjects start the action, but what happens when the clause lands on the receiving end of a verb?

Objects and Predicate Nominatives

A noun clause functions as a direct object when it directly receives the action of a transitive verb.
For example, in 'The seismologist noticed that the tectonic plates shifted,' the bold clause answers the question noticed what?