Grammar: noun clauses

Question

Please check out the sentences below and expound which sentence is correct:

A.

I know what his preference is.

I know what is his preference.

B. I know what the right way to ask a question is.

I know what is the right way to ask a question.

P.S. Will the auxiliary verb always come at the end of sentence in noun clauses?

BillJ · Accepted Answer

[1] I know what his preference is.

[2] *I know what is his preference.

[3] I know what the right way to ask a question is.

[4] *I know what is the right way to ask a question.

Preliminary point: I would avoid using the term 'noun clause'. It's a misnomer. The kind of clause you're asking about is called a subordinate interrogative clause (or embedded question) that functions as complement of a noun, adjective, preposition or, as in your examples, of a verb ("know").

Unlike most main clause interrogatives, the subordinate kind do not normally have subject-auxiliary inversion, so [1] and [3] are correct.

The meaning of [1] is "I know the answer to the question 'What is his preference?'"

The meaning of [3] is "I know the answer to the question 'What is the right way to ask a question?'"

jayprakash SinghP.S. Will the auxiliary verb always come at the end of sentence in ~~noun~~ subordinate interrogative clauses?

In the above kind of simple construction, yes, but not elsewhere, cf:

I don't know [whether it's his hat].

I don't know [where I'm going on holiday].

Grammar: noun clauses

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