Which of the following sentences contain a noun clause?
(A) That the old bridge was unsafe was clear to every villager.
(B) The bridge that the villagers built last year is already unsafe.
(C) The engineer asked if the bridge could carry a loaded truck.
(D) If the river rises any higher, the bridge will be closed.
(E) The fact that the bridge had cracks worried the engineer.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A), (C) and (E) only
(A) That the old bridge was unsafe was clear to every villager. — Correct.
- “That the old bridge was unsafe” is the subject of “was clear”. A clause that is the subject of a verb is a noun clause.
(B) The bridge that the villagers built last year is already unsafe. — Incorrect.
- “That the villagers built last year” describes the noun “bridge”. Here “that” can be changed to “which”, so it is an adjective clause.
(C) The engineer asked if the bridge could carry a loaded truck. — Correct.
- “If the bridge could carry a loaded truck” is the object of “asked”. Here “if” means “whether”, so it is a noun clause.
(D) If the river rises any higher, the bridge will be closed. — Incorrect.
- “If the river rises any higher” tells on what condition the bridge will be closed. It is an adverb clause of condition.
(E) The fact that the bridge had cracks worried the engineer. — Correct.
- “That the bridge had cracks” tells what the fact was. Here “that” cannot be changed to “which”, so it is a noun clause, not an adjective clause.