Every clause has a subject and a verb. Sometimes nouns function as subjects; sometimes proper nouns, infinitives or gerunds act as subjects. Noun clauses can function as subjects too in the same way nouns act in sentences: the subject is followed directly by a corresponding verb. Let's take a look at three examples to illustrate this point.
How you study matters significantly to your success.
As you can see in this first example, "how you study," the noun clause, corresponds to the verb "matters." The verb follows the subject ("how you study") immediately. Similarly, if you wrote "Sarah matters significantly to your success," Sarah functions as a noun and subject in this sentence as well. The subordinator in this noun clause is "how."
What was making him depressed was the fact that he got a rejection letter from the university he really wanted to go to.
In this second example, was is the verb that directly follows and corresponds to the noun clause "what was making him depressed." The subordinator is "what."
John's will says that the son who is the youngest inherits all the money.
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