Adjective Clauses
(aka relative clauses)
Part 2: with non-subject pronouns
Review:
 Adjective clause: what is it?
 Relative pronoun: what is it?
 Example sentences:
 Amy Tan is a writer. She was born in California.
☞ Make a complex sentence with an adjective clause:
Amy Tan, who was born in California, is a writer.
Subject vs. Object
 Subject: Amy Tan is a writer. She was born in California.
 Amy Tan, who was born in California, is a writer.
 Object: Amy Tan is a writer. I heard her on the radio.
 Amy Tan, who(m) I heard on the radio, is a writer.
Object Relative Pronouns

Object relative pronouns include:
 Who
Whom (formal)
That
Whose



For people, use “who” or “whom” or “that.”

“Whom” is more formal than “Who”

“Who” is more formal than “That”
For things, use “which” or “that.”


“Which” is more formal than “That”
Sometimes the relative pronoun is optional!

Not using the relative pronoun is the least formal option. This is only possible in
restrictive/identifying/necessary clauses You can’t leave out the relative pronoun in
nonrestrictive/nonidentifying/ “extra” clauses.
How it works:
 Popo told An-Mei stories. An-mei could not understand
the stories.
 “And she told me stories (that) I could not
understand.” (p. 14)
 Huang Taitai was the mother of a boy. Lindo would be
forced to marry the boy.
 “With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy
(whom) I would be forced to marry.” (p. 19)
A closer look:
 This kind of adjective clause has a different order!
 Relative pronoun + subject + verb
 Look again:
 “And she told me stories (that) I could not understand.”
(p. 14)
 “With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy
(whom) I would be forced to marry.”
Placement
 After the independent clause:
 Necessary:
 “I smiled, realizing it was the first time (that) I could
see the power of the wind.” (p. 22)
 Necessary + Extra:
 “I had real thoughts that no one could see, that no one
could ever take away from me.” (p.22)
 NOTE: In the “necessary” clauses, the relative pronoun is optional. In
the “extra” clauses, you must always use the relative pronoun.
Placement
 Inside the independent clause:
 Necessary:
 “Popo said aloud to all who could hear that my brother
and I were eggs laid by a stupid bird…” (p.14)
 “Extra”:
 Popo, with whom we lived, said aloud to all who could
hear… (most formal – preposition first in the clause)
 Popo, who we lived with, said aloud to all who could
hear… (not as formal –preposition at the end of the clause)
Whose
 They were the couple whose candle the servant watched.
 She was the girl whose grandmother called her mother a
ghost.
 “Whose” is not optional.
There are relative adverbs,
too.
 Adjective clauses with relative adverbs follow similar
rules to adjective clauses with relative pronouns.
 Instead of describing a noun, they tell us something
about place (when they begin with “where”) or
something about time (when they begin with “when”).
 These clauses do not describe verbs.
When / That

That was a time. + I started to understand him at that time =
“That’s (a time) when I came to understand him.” (p.19)
Same meaning:
That was the time that I came to understand him.
☞
Tricky!
Be sure that the clause describes a noun, not a verb. If the clause describes a verb, it is an adverb clause!
“I watched this same movie when you did not come” (p. 18).
This modifies “watched”, not “movie”, so it is an adverb clause, not an adjective clause.
Where
 She took my hand and led me to the sofa, where we
sat down together as though we did this every day.
(p.17)
 Everyone turned to look at the door, where a woman
stood. (p.17)
Similarities to other Adj
Clauses
 The object relative pronoun/relative adverb comes at the beginning
of the clause
 Object relative pronouns don’t change based on number or gender
 The verb in the adjective clause agrees with the subject of the
adjective clause (like clauses with “whose”)
 Comma rules are the same: use them for “extra” information and
don’t use them for necessary information.
 Don’t combine object pronouns with object relative pronouns in the
same clause

NO: “With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy (whom) I would
be forced to marry him.” (p. 19)