1. ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

2. ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
dependent clauses that must be joined to independent clauses
describe nouns and pronouns
often placed in a sentence right after the noun they describe
add details to sentences by functioning as adjectives

3. ADJECTIVE (RELATIVE) CLAUSES
Adjective clauses begin with one of the relative pronouns such as who, whom, whose, where , that, which,
Also called relative clauses.

4. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
Who
Refers to people, used as subject in the clause
The lady who teaches in the Political Science department is my mentor.
(Relative pronoun as the subject of the clause)

5. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
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)

6. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
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)

7. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
Whose
Refers to possession/ownership
The father whose child is missing is frantic!
The company whose manager has resigned is in dire straits.

8. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
When
Refers to a time (in + year, in + month, on + day,...).
It cannot be a subject.
It can be omitted
I will never forget the day when I graduated.
I will never forget the day on which I graduated.
I will never forget the day that I graduated.
I will never forget the day I graduated.

9. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
Where
Refers to a place (in + country, in + city, at + school,...).
It cannot be a subject.
It can be omitted but a preposition (at, in, to) usually must be added.
The house where he
stays is old .
The house in which he stays is old.
The house which he stays in is old.
The house that he stays in is old.
The house he stays in is old.

10. Relative Pronouns & Adjective Clauses
Why
Refers to reason
It can be omitted
I don’t know why he winked.
I don’t know the reason why he winked.
I don’t know the reason he winked.

11. Adjective Clauses: Restrictive & Non-restrictive Clauses
Restrictive Clauses (Essential)
Non-restrictive Clauses (Non-essential)
are necessary for identification—tell exactly which thing or person
are interesting with extra information -but don’t identify or tell “which one”
DO NOT have commas around clause
ALWAYS have commas around clause
Also known as identifying or defining clauses
Also known as non-identifying or non-defining clauses

12. Restrictive (Essential) Adjective Clauses
Examples:
The soccer player who scored the goal
is from Liverpool.
The girl that borrows my book
is my cousin.
The district where I live is near the
post office.

13. Non- Restrictive (Non-Essential) Adjective Clauses
Examples:
Ms. Tan, who is my English tutor, went to Korea last winter.
My dog, which is barking, is in the backyard.
William decided to reject the offer, which upset his manager.

14. Compare Restrictive & Non-restrictive Clauses
1. My brother who lives in Bukit Timah is an accountant.
This sentence suggests that I have more than
one brother. “Who lives in Bukit Timah” identifies
this brother, not the one who lives in Clementi.
2. My brother, who lives in Bukit Timah, is an accountant.
This sentence suggests that I only have one brother,
“who lives in Bukit Timah”.

15. Which is logically correct?
1. My father, who is a taxi driver, doesn’t like to exercise.
2. My father who is a taxi driver doesn’t like to exercise.

16. Answer
1. My father, who is a taxi driver, doesn’t like to exercise. (Correct!)
2. My father who is a taxi driver doesn’t like to exercise. (This suggests you have more than one father!)

17. Which is logically correct?
Situation: You have 3 sisters and you have already made that clear in preceding sentences. One is a doctor, one an air stewardess, and one a model.
1. My sister who is a doctor is not married.
2. My sister, who is a doctor, is not married.

18. Answer
1. My sister who is a doctor is not married. (Correct! This tells which sister , so it’s identifying.) 2. My sister, who is a doctor, is not married. (Identifying information should not have commas around it.)

19. Which is correct?
1. Paul Smith who is an excellent researcher is from England. 2. Paul Smith, who is an excellent researcher , is from England.

20. Answer
1. Paul Smith who is an excellent researcher is from England. (Note that proper nouns are considered already identified, so the adjective clause needs commas.) 2. Paul Smith, who is an excellent researcher , is from England. (Correct!)

21. Which is correct? The wind, that is howling, is making me nervous.
The wind, which is howling, is making me nervous.

22. Answer The wind, that is howling, is making me nervous.
(Never use commas with a “that” clause.)
2. The wind, which is howling, is making me nervous.
(Correct!)

23. Practice
Complete page 497 exercise 3

24. Writing with Adjective Clauses

25. Essential adjective clauses
Are necessary for identification—tell exactly which thing or person
Do not use commas
Example: My teacher is awesome. My teacher majored in English.
My teacher who majored in English is awesome.

26. With your partner: combine these main clauses into a sentence with an essential adverb clause. Underline the adverb clause and circle the subordinating conjunction.
The pentathlon is one of the oldest Olympic events/It is still part of Olympic games
A pentathlete had to run, jump, and throw well/He was the most admired athlete in the ancient Greek games
All children learned these skills/The children lived in Athens or Sparta
Aristotle praised pentathletes/Pentathletes were the most well-rounded athletes
The pentathlon had five events/It required both upper- and lower-body strength.

27. How’d you do? __________________________________________
_____________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________

28. Non-essential adjective clauses
are interesting with extra information -but don’t identify or tell “which one”
ALWAYS have commas around clause
Example: My teacher is trying to teach me grammar. My teacher is in room 405.
My teacher, who is trying to teach me grammar, is in room 405.

29. On your own: combine these main clauses into a sentence with a non-essential adverb clause. Underline the adverb clause and circle the subordinating conjunction.
One events required throwing the discus/The discus is a heavy, rounded stone
The pentahlete faced the stade (track) races/Stade races demand sprinting speed
A competitor might eventually become a soldier/The Spartans rewarded competitors
The pentathlon reflected the culture of Sparta/The Spartan highly valued war.
The modern Olympic pentathlon includes riding a horse, fencing, shooting, swimming, and running/The modern Olympic pentathlon is also based on military skills

30. How’d you do? __________________________________________
_____________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________
8. ___________________________________________
9. ___________________________________________
10. __________________________________________

31. Adjective & Adverb Clause Review
Mad Libs
Adjective & Adverb Clause Review

32. Give examples of the following
Adjective clause beginning with who
Noun
Adjective clause beginning with where
Adjective clause beginning with that
Adverb clause beginning with since
Adverb clause beginning with while
Adjective
Adverb clause beginning with before
Adverb clause beginning with who
Adverb clause beginning with because
Independent clause using “he” as the subject.
Independent clause using “he” as the subject
Adjective clause using “who”
Adverb clause beginning with “while”

33. Give examples of the following
Adverb clause beginning with as soon as
Independent clause with birthday girl as the subject.
Adverb clause beginning with because
Noun
Adjective clause beginning with which
Adjective clause beginning with who
Independent clause
Adverb clause beginning with although
Adverb clause beginning with if
Adverb clause beginning with since

34. Dear Director: I would like to recommend my friend, (1)________________, for the job of assistant to the (2)______________ in your camp (3)___________________. He has just graduated from a school (4)____________________and earned a degree (5)_________________. He has had experience teaching (6)_____________ how to play the banjo (7)_________________. He is ambitious and (8) ______________. During school vacations, he used to work delivering (9)___________________. He is a loyal person (10)______________________and will make a very good counselor (11)_______________________ and (12)____________________. (13)_______________________. I promise you that this man (14)____________________ will make great counselor for your camp.

35. The party was over (16)___________________________
The party was over (16)___________________________. (17)_____________________________________. (18)________________________________, she decided not to open her presents. That was too bad because I had bought her a (19)__________________. The cake (20)_________________________________ (21)_______________________________ was never even brought out to the table. The guests (22)______________________________ were told to go home, and (23)_________________________________. (24)________________________________________, everyone still seemed to have a good time. I guess a party is still a party even (25)________________________________. I’m looking forward to the next birthday party

36. References
Cain, J. S. (2003).Eye on Editing 2: Developing Editing Skills for Writing. New York: Pearson Education
Brizee. A. (Ed.). (2009). Relative Pronouns. OWL Materials. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from

37. Web resources
On how to use a relative clause (also links on the page on defining/restrictive) and non-defining/non-restrictive relative clauses)
A grammar website on relative clauses giving all the details of relative clauses and provide exercises. If you want to know relative clauses inside out, visit:

38. Videos on Relative Clauses
On defining relative clauses (with movie clips)
Distinguish the use of “who” and “whom” in a relative clause

39. Powerpoint developed by Irene Tan. Used with Permission
Proofread and revised by Yang Ying