Question

What role does the underlined clause play in the given sentence?
She was late to class. Her excuse was that she had forgotten to set her alarm.

• A. Subject
• B. Appositive
• C. Adverbial
• D. Subject complement

Answer 1

The correct option is D Subject complement

A noun clause that acts as the subject of a sentence is called a subject noun clause. Thus, option A is incorrect since the underlined clause is not the subject of that sentence. Option C is also incorrect since the adverbial is a separate clause. It is not a noun clause.

A subject complement is a noun, adjective or pronoun that follows a linking verb (any form of the verb be, become and seem). An appositive usually appears after a noun that it modifies or renames. For example,

The moral of the story was that family is the most important thing in life. (Subject complement)

The moral that family is the most important thing in life appeared throughout the whole story; (Appositive)

In the given sentence, the underlined clause does not rename the noun nor does it appear after it. Therefore it is not appositive, making option B incorrect. The noun clause appears after the linking verb "was", making it a subject complement. Therefore, option D is correct.