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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. Which words are adjectives? unkind
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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 • Which words are adjectives? • unkind • fast • value • careless • silently • 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: 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. Examples: Route 66 is a long road. This roadgoes from Chicago to California. Route 66 is a long road that goes from Chicago to California. Subject Relative Pronouns People: Who or That Things or Animals: Which or That Possessive: Whose
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: 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 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.
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.
