Adjective Clauses and Phrases

Goals


In this .... you will learn about:

1-Adjective Clauses
"The woman who is dressed in red is my mother"


2-Adjective Phrases
"The woman dressed in red is my mother."


3-Restrictive /Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses
"My brother who is 10 years old starts working today." (restrictive)
"My brother, who is 10 years old, starts working today." (nonrestrictive)




Grammar Notes

1-Adjective clauses are also called relative clauses. They come after nouns and modify them.


2-They tell the listener or reader more about the person or thing that the noun refer to.


3-If the subject relative pronoun is followed by the verb be in any tense, both the relative pronoun and the verb be can be omitted.

4-A restrictive adjective clause gives information that helps to uniquely identify the noun that it describes.


5-A Nonrestrictive adjective clause, on the other hand, adds extra information about the noun it modifies. This information is not necessary to identify the noun.




1. Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses are also called relative clauses. They come after nouns and modify them. In other words, they tell the listener or reader more about the person or thing that the noun refer to. The pronouns that often begin adjective clauses are called relative pronouns ( that, which, who, whom, whose, where) For example:
A person who sweeps the floor on buildings is known as janitor.
A person who sails is a sailor.
The man who sold the red house is a friend of mine.

2. Reducing Adjective Clauses to Adjective Phrases

If the subject relative pronoun is followed by the verb be in any tense, both the relative pronoun and the verb be can be omitted. For example:
The realtor who is selling the house is Ann.--> The realtor who is selling the house is Ann.
The garment that is worn by priests is usually white.-> The garment that is worn by priests is usually white.

3. Relative pronouns as objects

The object relative pronouns for people are who, whom, that. Whom is more formal than who. The object relative pronouns for things are which, that. For example:
The candidate who more votes gets become the president.
The first time that I voted was in 1982.
You may omit the relative pronoun in restricted adjective clauses. For example:
The first time I voted was in 1982.

4. Restricted/Nonrestricted Relative Clauses

The two main types of adjective clauses--restrictive and nonrestrictive-- have distinct meanings and uses.
A restrictive adjective clause gives information that helps to uniquely identify the noun that it describes. For example:
My sister who attends KU is very shy. (I have two sisters. one attends KU , the other doesn't)

A Nonrestrictive adjective clause, on the other hand, adds extra information about the noun it modifies. This information is not necessary to identify the noun. For example:
Mary, who attends KU, is very shy.

Noun in main Clause Relative Clause Rest of main Clause
The man who called is an old friend of mine.
The woman whom I met lives near my house
The letter that Mary received was very important.
The book which we discussed was a best-seller.
The writer whose book we discussed will visit with us next week.

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