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

unkind
 fast

fast
 value

value
 careless

careless
 silently

silently
 old

old
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:
Examples:
TheRoute
postcard
66 isshows
a longaroad.
beautiful vista of the Grecian
coastline.
This road goes from Chicago to California.
I bought the postcard.
Route 66 is a long road that goes from Chicago to
TheCalifornia.
postcard which I bought shows a beautiful vista of the
Grecian coastline.
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.
Examples:
Subject Relative Pronouns
Route 66 is a long
People:
road. Who or That
This road goes
Things
from
or Animals:
ChicagoWhich
to California.
or That
Route 66 is a longPossessive:
road that goes
Whose
from Chicago to
California.
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.
Examples:
Object Relative Pronouns
The postcardPeople:
shows aWhom,
beautiful
Who
vista
or That
of the Grecian
coastline.
Things or Animals: Which or That
I bought the postcard.
Possessive: Whose
The postcard that I bought shows a beautiful vista of the
Grecian coastline.
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 that I bought the postcard is
pretty.
Correct: The postcard that 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.
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
• 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
• 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.