This paper attempts to give a unified view of the workings of noun clauses. These are considered according to three main types corresponding to three different kinds of source sentences. All three types can be used in any usual noun-phrase function, especially subject, direct object, and prepositional object. Four factors which complicate the picture in French are the use of complementizers (adapters), extraposition (displacement) of the clause to the beginning or end of the sentence, the use of the subjunctive in the clause, and the special subordinating conjunctions required. It follows that any given noun clause can be classified by stating four parameters: the kind of source sentence, the function of the clause, the presence or absence of an adaptor, and the presence or absence of displacement. A brief teaching plan based on the preceding analysis concludes the paper. Appended are two sets of sentences which illustrate all the noun clause types. One of the sets consists exclusively of sentences found in novels, plays, and contemporary magazines and newspapers. (Author/AMH)