Adjective clause

Chapter 12

What Is an Adjective Clause?• An adjective clause usually comes after

the noun it modifies and is made up of several words which, like all clauses, will include a subject and a verb.

• An adjective clause usually begins with a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose), a relative adverb (where, when, why), or a zero relative.

• Remember• A clause is a group of related words with

a subject and verb. • Adjective clauses are always dependent

clauses.

A dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence. Also known as an adjectival clause or a relative clause.

• adjective clauses are adjectives, but they look like sentences because they have verbs and nouns. Because they look like sentences, put the adjective clause after the noun. Like these

• I just bought the book you recommended. • Frank is the chef taught me how to cook. • Snowmobiles are cars you can ride on the

snow.

THERE IS STILL A PROBLEM. When you use adjective clauses, you often need a word that connects the noun with the adjective clause. The word acts like glue and keeps the noun and the adjective clause together. This word is called the relative pronoun. For our purposes, let’s call it the RP (relative pronoun). So, here are the rules:

• If the NOUN is a then the RP is• Person Thing• who or that which or that

• I just bought the book which you recommended.

• OR- I just bought the book that you recommended.

• Frank is the chef who taught me how to cook. • -OR- Frank is the chef that taught me how to

cook. • Snowmobiles are cars which you can ride on

the snow. • -OR- Snowmobiles are cars that you can ride

on the snow.

Relative pronoun

• There are only five words which introduce adjective clauses.

• Who• Whom• Whose• Which• That

• . The woman who lives next door is a registered nurse.

• . Williamsburg, Virginia, is a place that I'd like to visit

• . Math, which is Dave's favorite subject, has always been easy for him.

• . There is the house that I'd like to buy. • . Larry's letter, which he mailed Tuesday,

reached me on Thursday

• Sometimes, you don’t need the RP. A good rule to remember: If the word after the RP is a verb, you must have the RP there. If the word after the RP is not a verb, you probably don’t need it.

• Example: • I just bought the book that you recommended. • The word after the RP is you. You is not a verb.

Therefore, the following sentence is also correct. • I just bought the book you recommended. • When the noun is a proper name (and begins with a

capital letter), do NOT use that.

• CORRECT • Winston Churchill, who was the prime

minister of England, is considered one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century. INCORRECT

• Winston Churchill, that was the prime minister of England, is considered one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century.

• Some adjective clauses are necessary in the sentence; some adjective clauses are not necessary, but they are used just to give extra information.

• When the adjective clause is NOT necessary, use commas. When the adjective clause is necessary, don’t use commas.

Example:• Wine that is made in southern Italy is very expensive. • Wine is very expensive.• You can see that the first sentence is specifically

saying that wine from southern Italy is expensive. However, when you take out the adjective clause, the meaning becomes ALL wine is expensive.

• The meaning of these two sentences is very different. The difference is completely dependent on the adjective clause. Therefore, the adjective clause is NECESSARY. As a result, do not use commas.

• In addition, when the adjective clause is not necessary at all (it just adds extra information), that is usually not used.

Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses

• Who• Refers to people,

used as subject in the clause

• The lady who teaches in Political Science department is my mentor.

(Relative pronoun as the subject of the clause)

Whom

• Refers to people, used as object or object of preposition

(Formal grammar recommends whom, not who, in the object position)

• Sally, who(m) he knew, arrived yesterday.

(Relative pronoun as the object of the clause)

• The student of whom he spoke was a foreigner.

(Relative pronoun as the object of a preposition)

• Which or that• Refers to

things, animals

• The watch which Ken bought was expensive.

• The ring that Jamie wears is from her husband.

• The lion that escaped last night was captured.

(Note: the sentence using which is more formal than the one with that)

Whose

• Refers to possession/ownership

• The father whose child is missing is frantic!

• The company whose manager has resigned is in dire straits.

17

USING WHO, WHO(M), AND THAT IN ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

s v

(a) The man is friendly. He lives next to me.

|

s v who/that

(b) The man who lives next to me is friendly.

© The man that lives next to me is friendly.

In addition to who, that can be used as the subject of an adjective clause.

(b) and © have the same meaning.

A subject pronoun cannot be omitted.

Incorrect: The man lives next to me is friendly.

Correct: The man who/that lives next to me is friendly.

18

USING WHICH AND THAT IN ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

s v

(a)The river is polluted. It flows through the town.↓

which/that s v

(b) The river which flows through the town is polluted.© The river that flows through the town is polluted.Who and whom refer to people. Which refers to things. That

refers to either people or things.In (a): To make an adjective clause, change it to which or that. It,

which, and that all refer to a thing (the river).(b) and © have the same meaning.

19

SINGULAR AND PLURAL VERBS IN ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

(a)I know the man who is sitting over there.In (a): The verb in the adjective clause (is) is

singular because who refers to a singular noun.(b) I know the people who are sitting over there.In (b): The verb in the adjective clause (are) is

plural because who refers to plural noun, people.