Some definitions:
Clause:
It is a group of words containing a subject and a verb.
Independent clause:
It is a complete sentence. It contains the main
subject and verb of a sentence.
Dependent clause:
It is not a complete sentence. It must be connected to an
dependent clause.
Adjective clause:
It is a dependant clause whish modifies a noun. It
describes, identifies, or gives further information about
a noun. It is also called a relative clause.
Phrase:
It is a group of words that does not contain a subject and a verb.
adjective phrase:
It is a reduction of an adjective clause. It modifies a noun.
It does not contain a subject and a verb.
1- Subject pronouns who, which and that:
The woman was strange. She had a blue hat.
She is subject pronoun (She: refers to the woman)
To make an adjective clause, we can change She to Who or that:
The woman who has a blue hat was strange.
The woman that has a blue hat was strange.
Who/that is a subject pronoun (Who/that: refers to the woman)
An adjective clause immediately follows a noun it modifies.
Other examples:
I saw the woman. She has a bluish hat.
I saw the woman who/ that has a bluish hat.
I saw the woman = independent clause.
Who/ that has a bluish hat = adjective clause.
Who/ that is the subject of the adjective clause.
I bought a book. It cost $40.
I bought a book, which cost $40.
The book was interesting. It cost a lot.
The book that cost a lot was interesting.
Who: used for people
Which: used for things
That: used for people and things
2- Object pronouns whom, which and that:
The woman was strange. I saw her.
Her is an object pronoun (Her: refers to the woman)
To make an adjective clause, we can change her to whom
The woman whom I saw was strange.
Whom is an object pronoun (Whom: refers to the woman)
An adjective clause immediately follows a noun it modifies
and begins in the object pronoun (whom).
Other examples:
The book was brand new. It had blue pages
The book which had blue pages was brand new.
The book was interesting. I bought it
The book that I bought was interesting.
NOTE:
- The subject pronoun cannot be omitted.
- The object pronoun can be omitted.
The woman whom/ that I saw was strange.
= The woman I saw was strange.
- Formal & informal:
The woman whom I saw was strange. (Formal)
The woman who I saw was strange. (Informal)
- Who, whom, which, that can refer to both singular and plural.
The woman who has a blue hat was strange.
The women whom I saw were strange.
The books which/ that I bought weren’t interesting.
3- Using prepositions in adjective clauses:
3-1 With subject pronoun:
The woman was strange. She looked at me.
The woman who (that) looked at me was strange.
No change.
3-2 With object pronoun:
The woman was strange. I looked at her.
The woman whom I looked at was strange
The woman that I looked at was strange
The woman I looked at was strange
The woman at whom I looked was strange (very formal)
The cat has blue eyes. She lives with it.
The cat with which she lives has blue eyes.
The cat which she lives with has blue eyes.
The cat that she lives with has blue eyes.
The cat she lives with has blue eyes.
The preposition comes before either whom or which
ONLY, not before who and that. In this case, the pronoun
cannot be omitted.
Whom, that, which are used here as the object of the
preposition in the adjective clause.
4- Using whose in adjective clauses:
The woman was angry. Her cat was stolen.
Her sister was lost and her earrings
were broken. I met her. Her friend knew her story.
Adjective clauses:
The woman whose cat was stolen was angry.
The woman whose sister was lost was angry.
The woman whose earrings were broken was angry.
The woman whose story her friend knew was angry.
Whose shows possession. It can be used with either
people or things, either singular or plural.
Place an adjective clause pronoun as close as possible to
the noun it modifies.
5- Using where and when:
Where:
The school was very crowded. She studies there.
The school where she studies was crowded.
The school at which she studies was crowded.
The school which she studies at was crowded.
The school that she studies at was crowded.
The school she studies at was crowded.
Where is used in an adjective clause to modify a place.
If where is used, a preposition is not included in the
adjective clause.
When:
I remember the day. I visited New Jersey.
I remember the day when I visited New Jersey.
I remember the day on which I visited New Jersey.
I remember the day that I visited New Jersey.
I remember the day I visited New Jersey.
When is used in an adjective clause to modify a noun of time.
The preposition is included only before which.
6- Punctuation of adjective clauses:
The adjective clause that does not require commas is called:
Essential or restrictive.
The adjective clause that requires commas is called:
Nonessential or nonrestrictive.
Don’t use commas if the adjective clause is necessary to
identify the noun it modifies.
Do use commas if the adjective clause simply gives additional
Information and is not necessary to identify the noun it modifies.
The woman who had a blue hat was strange.
No commas are used. The adjective clause is necessary to identify
which woman is meant.
The woman, who had a blue hat, was strange.
Commas are used. The adjective clause is not necessary to identify
who the woman is. It may be omitted from the sentence with no
change in meaning.
The woman was strange.
Use commas if an adjective clause modifies a proper noun.
A proper noun = the name of a person, place or thing. It begins
With a capital letter, not a small letter.
Vitus Bering, who traveled across Siberia, died and was buried
On the Bering Island.
If commas are used, only Wh-pronouns may be used (who, whom,
which, whose, where, when); that may not be used.
7- Expressions of quantity in adjective clauses:
There are many people in this town. None of them was
Born in Alaska.
There are many people in this town, none of whom was
Born in Alaska.
There are a lot of things in this store. Most of them were made
in China.
There are a lot of things in this store, most of which were made
in China.
This adjective clause pattern occurs with any expressions
of quantity:
Some of, many of, most of, none of, two of, half of, both of,
neither of, each of, etc.
Only whom, which and whose are used in this pattern.
A noun + of + which is sometimes an alternative to an adjective clause
with whose.
She has a computer. The processor of it is a Pentium.
She has a computer, the processor of which is a Pentium. (1)
She has a computer. Its processor is a Pentium.
She has a computer whose processor of it is a Pentium. (2)
(1) And (2) have the same meaning.
8- Changing an adjective clause to an adjective phrase:
Only adjective clauses that have a subject pronoun (who, which, that)
are reduced to modify an adjective clause. In this case, there is no
difference in meaning between the adjective clause and adjective phrase.
There are two ways to change an adjective clause to an adjective phrase.
Both the subject pronoun and the be form of the verb are omitted:
The car which is left on the street is broken. (Adjective clause)
The car left on the street is broken. (Adjective phrase)
If there is no be form of a verb in the adjective clause, it is
sometimes possible to omit the subject pronoun and change
the verb to its -ing form:
The man who came yesterday knows how to repair the faucet.
The man coming yesterday knows how to repair the faucet.
If the adjective clause requires commas, the adjective phrase
also requires commas.
The man, who was waiting for you, comes from Arizona.
The man, waiting for you, comes from Arizona.
|
