1. With Question Words
Noun clauses with question words adalah klausa nomina yang diawali dengan kata tanya, seperti: when, where, why, how, who, whom, what, which, whose.Contoh:
- I don’t know where he lives.
- Do you know when they came?
- Please tell me what you want!
- I don’t understand why Susan is absent today.
- I wonder who is outside.
- I don’t know who she is.
- I don’t know whose car that is
Perhatikan contoh berikut ini:
(a) Where does he live?
(b) I don’t know where he lives.
(c) When did they leave?
(d) Do you know when they left?
(e) What did she say?
(f) Please tell me what she said.
(g) Why is Jerry angry?
(h) I wonder why Jerry is angry.
(i) Who came to class?
(j) I don’t know who came to class.
(k) What happened?
(l) Tell me what happened?
Dari contoh di atas, yang termasuk klausa nomina atau noun clause adalah (b),(f), (h), (j), (l), sedangkan (a),(c),(e), (g), (i), (k) disebut sebagai kalimat tanya atau information question (wh-question). Jadi, noun clause with a question word dan information question berbeda pemakaiannya dalam suatu kalimat. Khusus untuk (d) adalah kalimat tanya (do you know…) yang di dalamnya mengandung klausa nomina (when they left).
Jangan sampai membuat kalimat seperti ini:
- I don’t know where do you live?
Kalimat di atas adalah clause dan tidak tepat jika menggunakan where do you live. Seharusnya kalimat itu menjadi seperti ini:
- I don’t know where you live.
Tetapi jika memang ingin bertanya, kalimatnya menjadi seperti ini:
- Where do you live?
Ini merupakan kalimat tanya bukan clause.
Perhatikan juga contoh berikut ini:
- I don’t understand why does she love me? (Salah)
- I don’t understand why she loves me. (Benar)
- Why does she love me? (Benar)
2. With Whether or If
Noun clauses with whether or if adalah klausa nomina yang diawali dengan conjunctions whether atau if yang dipakai untuk menyatakan suatu kemungkinan atau ketidakpastian. Dalam bahasa Indonesia, keduanya dapat diartikan apakah.Di dalam kalimat yang mengandung noun clauses with whether or if, kata whether sering diikuti oleh frase or not.
Kata kerja (verbs) yang umum digunakan bersama dengan whether atau if adalah:
know, announce, ask, argue, discuss, doubt, indicate, mention, say, suggest, debate, explain, inquire, reveal, state, tell, care, consider, determine, judge, learn, observe, wonder, choose, decide, notice, see
Contoh:
- I do not know whether he has no money or not.
- I am not sure if she is at home.
- Whether or not he has had a job is not my business.
- Do you know if he is a police?
- We always think about her whether she is in a good condition or not.
- She never indicated whether she was pleased or not.
- See whether the children are ready to go or not.
- I do not notice whether Emmy is sick.
Catatan:
Whether lebih sering dipakai dalam bahasa Inggris formal, sedangkan if lebih umum digunakan dalam percakapan.
Contoh pemakaian whether dan if:
- I don’t know whether she will come.
- I don’t know whether she will come or not.
- I don’t know if she will come.
- I don’t know if she will come or not.
- I wonder whether he needs help.
- I wonder whether he needs help or not.
- I wonder if he needs help.
- I wonder if he needs help or not.
- I don’t know whether this problem can be solved.
- I don’t know whether this problem can be solved or not.
- I don’t know if this problem can be solved.
- I don’t know if this problem can be solved or not.
Or not juga bisa langsung dipakai di belakang whether:
- I don’t know whether or not she will come.
- I wonder whether or not he needs help.
- I don’t know whether or not this problem can be solve
