Clauses

Noun Clauses

The third and last subordinate type: a clause filling a slot meant for a noun. It goes on a pedestal, the same device used for gerunds and infinitives, because it is doing the same kind of thing.

What you’ll learn

Recognise a noun clause and the words that introduce it
Work out which noun slot the clause is filling
Draw a noun clause on a pedestal
Tell 'that' as a subordinator from 'that' as a relative pronoun

A clause where a noun would go

Everyone knows the answer and Everyone knows that the ferry left have the same shape. In the first the direct object is a noun; in the second it is a whole clause.

A noun clause can fill any slot a noun could — subject, direct object, complement, or object of a preposition. It is usually introduced by that, whether, if, or a wh- word.

Replace the suspect stretch with 'something'
Everyone knows something still works, so that the ferry left is filling a noun slot.
Work out which slot
Ask the usual questions. “Knows what?” → direct object.
Raise it on a pedestal in that slot
The clause is diagrammed normally on its own base line; the pedestal drops it into place.

“Everyone knows that the ferry left.”

Reed-Kellogg — the clause raised into the object slot

nsubjNominal subject
ROOTRoot of the sentence
markMarker
detDeterminer
ccompClausal complement

Dependency — ccomp, with 'that' as a bare marker

Comparing the two views

The pedestal is Reed-Kellogg’s way of saying “an entire clause is occupying a single slot”, and it makes the nesting visible at a glance. The dependency tree needs no such device — it just makes left a ccomp of knows, one row down. Notice that that gets mark: the tree treats it as pure glue with no job inside the clause, which is exactly why the diagram puts it on a separate little line rather than in a slot.

Two different thats

that introduces both noun clauses and adjective clauses, and the two are diagrammed completely differently. The test is whether it has a job inside its own clause.

Everyone knows that the ferry left. — remove that and the clause still has a subject and verb. It is pure glue: a noun clause, mark.
the violin that she inherited — remove that and inherited has no object. It is doing a job: an adjective clause, dobj.

Clauses beginning with a wh- word

Whoever arrives first will unlock the door. — the whole clause whoever arrives first is the subject of will unlock. And whoever, like a relative pronoun, does a job inside its own clause: it is the subject of arrives.

So wh- noun clauses combine both patterns — a pedestal for the clause, and the introducing word sitting in a real slot rather than on a separate line.

“Whoever arrives first will unlock the door.”

Reed-Kellogg — a clause on a pedestal in the subject slot

nsubjNominal subject
csubjClausal subject
advmodAdverbial modifier
auxAuxiliary
ROOTRoot of the sentence
detDeterminer
dobjDirect object

Dependency — csubj outside, nsubj inside

Comparing the two views

Two nested subjects, and both views cope but say it differently. Reed-Kellogg puts whoever in the subject slot of the raised clause, and the whole pedestal in the subject slot of the main one — nesting made of position. The tree marks the outer relation as csubj and the inner as nsubj, so the nesting is in the labels and the depth rather than in any elevation.

Key terms

Noun clause: A dependent clause filling a noun slot. Relation ccomp when it completes a verb, csubj when it is the subject. Everyone knows that the ferry left. — object. Whoever arrives first will unlock the door. — subject.
See: Core Arguments
Subordinator: that, whether, if — introduces the clause with no job inside it. Relation mark. Everyone knows that the ferry left. Ask whether the shop is open.
See: Adverb Clauses
Pedestal: The stand raising a construction into a single slot. Used identically for noun clauses, gerund phrases and infinitive phrases. Everyone knows that the ferry left. — the clause stands on a pedestal in the object slot. Whoever arrives first will unlock the door. — in the subject slot.
See: Reed-Kellogg Diagrams, Gerunds, Infinitives
ccomp: “Clausal complement” — a clause completing a verb, with its own subject. Contrast xcomp, whose subject comes from the main clause. Everyone knows that the ferry left. — left is the ccomp of knows. She said that the bridge closed.
See: Core Arguments

Practice on a real sentence

This sentence has two embedded clauses stacked inside each other. Work out which verb is the root, and which clauses complete which.

“She wondered whether he was sorry he had hurt her.”

Parts of speech

Give every word its coarse Universal Dependencies category.

Words 0/10Attempts 0Correct 0Time 0:00

Sentence — select a part of speech below, then click the word(s) it applies to

She wondered whether he was sorry he had hurt her.