Adjective Clauses

Explanation and Practice

What is an Adjective?• An Adjective describes a noun.

Remember nouns can either be subjects, objects or objects of prepositions.

Which words are adjectives?

unkind

fast

value

careless

silently

old

These words are adjectives!

unkind

fast

value

careless

silently

old

What is an Independent Clause?

• An independent clause can stand alone. Remember it’s a complete sentence containing: subject, verb, and sometimes object.

Which sentence is independent?

She visited her grandma.

The baker loved his bread.

Inside the classroom.

With school, my life is complete!

Miss K. silently.

Old dogs can learn new tricks.

These are sentences!

independent

independent

fragment

independent

fragment

independent

What is a Dependent Clause?

• An dependent clause can’t stand alone. Remember it DEPENDS on an independent clause in order to function properly.

Turn this dependent into an independent?

Her grandma.

The baker.

Inside the classroom.

With school!

Miss K. silently.

Old dogs.

What is a Relative Pronoun?• Relative Pronouns modify a word, phrase, or idea in the main clause.

Remember it DEPENDS on an independent clause in order to function properly.

• Relative Pronouns introduce dependent clauses.

The most common relative pronouns are:who/whom, whoever/whomever, whose, that, and which. Please note that in certain situations, "what,” "when,” and "where” can function as relatives.

What is an Adjective Clause?

• An Adjective clause is a dependent clause (dependent word + subject and verb) that describes a noun.

• You can imagine that an adjective clause is taking two sentences about the same noun and making them into one sentence.

Examples:

Route 66 is a long road.

This road goes from Chicago to California.

Route 66 is a long road that goes from Chicago to California.

Examples:

The postcard shows a beautiful vista of the Grecian coastline.

I bought the postcard.

The postcard which I bought shows a beautiful vista of the Grecian coastline.

Examples:

Route 66 is a long road.

This road goes from Chicago to California.

Route 66 is a long road that goes from Chicago to California.

Subject Relative Pronouns

• We use relative pronouns to create dependent clauses.• The relative pronoun replaces the word in common between the two sentences. • Sometimes, the relative pronoun will be the subject of the dependent clause.

Subject Relative Pronouns

People: Who or That

Things or Animals: Which or That

Possessive: Whose

Examples:

The postcard shows a beautiful vista of the Grecian coastline.

I bought the postcard.

The postcard which I bought shows a beautiful vista of the Grecian coastline.

Object Relative Pronouns• Sometimes, the relative pronoun will replace the object in the dependent clause or the

object of a preposition.• To connect this type of clause, the relative pronoun must be moved to the front of the

clause – in front of the subject.

Object Relative Pronouns

People: Whom, Who or That

Things or Animals: Which or That

Possessive: Whose

Things to Remember• The relative pronoun replaces the noun – don’t use it and the noun in the dependent clause.

– Example:• The postcard is pretty. I bought the postcard.Incorrect: The postcard which I bought the postcard is pretty.Correct: The postcard which I bought is pretty.

• The relative pronoun must be next to the word it describes.– Example:

• Incorrect: The sharks opened their mouths while they swam by the boat which were full of sharp teeth.• Correct: The sharks opened their mouths which were full of sharp teeth while they swam by the boat.

Things to Remember• Formal written English: In formal, academic English in adjective clauses with object relative pronouns, for people, we use whom. In adjective clauses with an object of a preposition, bring

the preposition forward and use whom or which.

– Example: Jack London, whom I admire, wrote a lot of short stories.• Rather than: Jack London, who I admire, wrote a lot of short stories.

– Example: The presidency is the position to which many politicians aspire.• Rather than: The presidency is the position that many politicians aspire to.

Things to Remember• You must understand whether or not the dependent clause is essential information or extra information in the

understanding of the noun. This impacts the meaning and the punctuation.• Essential clauses are also called identifying or restrictive. We DO NOT use commas with these clauses.• Extra clauses are also called non-identifying or non-restrictive. WE MUST use commas with these clauses. We

cannot use the relative pronoun that.

Relative Pronouns!• Relative Pronouns used as restrictive clauses are exampled

below.NOTE there are NO commas used as these relative clauses are restrictive, meaning they add essential information to that which they modify info IS NEEDED!

The use of relative pronouns as subjects of restrictive clauses (restrictive add essential information to antecedent):

This is the house that had grand Christmas décor!

It took my awhile to get used to students who sharpen their pencil in the middle of class.

Relative Pronouns!• Relative Pronouns used a non restrictive clauses are exampled

below.NOTE there ARE commas used as these relative clauses are non restrictive, meaning they add unnecessary (NOT needed) information to that which they modify

The use of relative pronouns as subjects of restrictive clauses (restrictive add NON essential information to antecedent):

The science fair, which lasted all day, ended with an awards ceremony.

The painter, whom Miss K. admired, had sadly moved to Italy.

Things to Remember• Can you understand a difference between these two sentences?

– My sister, who lives in Bel Air, has three children.– My sister who lives in Bel Air has three children.

• In which sentence is it clear that I have more than one sister?

•What about between these two sentences?

•He looked in the refrigerator, and he threw away the food which was rotten.

•He looked in the refrigerator, and he threw away the food, which was rotten.

In which sentence is all of the food in the refrigerator rotten?

Identifying vs. Non-Identifying 1

• Think about if a listener or reader would be able to identify the noun without the adjective clause.

Example:

He is the man who works at the grocery store.This is essential (identifying) information. Think about it as two sentences.

He is a man.

He works at the grocery store.

Without the second sentence, you couldn’t identify him.

Notice that a become the because the noun changes from indefinite to definite because of the identification.

Identifying vs. Non-Identifying 2

• Think about if a listener or reader would be able to identify the noun without the adjective clause.

Example:

Maria, who works as a physician’s assistant, enjoys her job.This is extra (non-identifying) information. Think about it as two sentences.

Maria enjoys her job.

Maria works as a physician’s assistant.You know her name from the first sentence. This is enough to identify her.

Practice makes perfect!

• Use the following website to practice your adjective clause skills:

•http://fog.ccsf.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/lfried/quiz.cgi?quiz=adjclause