That awkward moment when?

Question

I know when people use the phrase "that awkward moment when", it is clearly a sentence fragment. What exactly is it called though? A dependent clause? A noun clause? I have no idea.

Answer 1

Noun, adjective, and adverb clauses are all dependent clauses, because they can't stand on their own as a complete sentence. "That awkward moment when I wore my slippers to the office" is a noun clause, but whether it functions as the subject or object of the sentence depends on the context:

That awkward moment when I wore my slippers to the office was so embarrassing! (noun clause functioning as the subject of 'was')

I'll never forget that awkward moment when I wore my slippers to the office. (noun clause functioning as the direct object of 'forget')