CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION
Problem Background
English is the language used by almost every person in the world. at the present time,
learning English is very important. English language is not only used to talk to the west, but has
become a requirement to enter the world of work. children in schools in Asian countries, must
learn English. There is so much discussion in English. But that will be discussed in this paper is
about the adjective clause. Adjective clause is a very important discussion because it is very
often used both in conversation especially in the writing of English. In this paper, we will
attempt to explain a little about the adjective clause.
English is generally recognized to be the worlds most important language and the worlds
most widely used language. This statement was stated by Quirk, Greenbaum Leech,
Svartvik(1985,p 3). Considering English as an important language, there are many student in
Indonesia learning it. According to Stubbs on Carter (1982) there are three factor that make
English become an important topic. First is an international language; it is important as
secondary language in many parts of the world. Second English is important to speaker, because
without english the speakers cannot understand what another nation says. Lastly, english
provides many interesting problems for linguists because there are many somplexity of english.
These factors make English become an interesting subject to learn for some people.
Eventhough Adjective Clause is quite an easy subject, the writer observes that sometimes
there are some studenss who have difficulties on it and make some error. Sometimes student do
not know how to use the adjective clause, do not know the use of the rules of using the clause.
The usedulness of this research is that we can know more about the error that usually
students do when using Adjective Clause. By analysis the understanding in using Adjective
Clause.

CHAPTER II

EXPLANATION
1.1.

DEFINITION OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

Clause is a group of

words containing a subject and a verb. (Betty Schrampfer

Azar,1999; page 267)

According to Hidayah,2012,web page said : An adjective clause is also called a relative
clause or an adjectival clause. A clause is a group of words that have a subject and predicate.
There are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent. Independent clauses are sentences
because they express a complete thought.
An Adjective Clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. It describes, identifies, or
give further information about noun. ( An Adjective clause is also called a relative clause.)
There are several types of adjective (relative) clauses, each with its own rules for form. One type
is often referred to as subject pattern clauses because in them, the relative pronoun (the words
introducing the clauses) are the grammatical subjects of the clauses. An adjective clause is
simply a group of words with a subject and a verb that provide a description. (Mrs.Jesper:2014;
page 23)
Adjectives clauses have a subject and a verb (or predicate). They will start with a relative
pronoun, like: that, who, whom, whose, or which, or a relative adverb, like why, where, or when.
Adjective clauses function as an adjective and modify nouns and pronouns. They are also called
relative clauses.
Just as the other dependent clauses, the adjective clause does not express a complete
thought. It does not need commas separating it from the rest of the sentence if it has essential
information in it; that is if you need the information it provides. If it gives additional information,
then you use commas. In the examples below, you will see a noun modified by an adjective
clause and then an example of the same noun modified by the shorter adjective phrase. The red
dots indicate that the main clause is incomplete as you are focusing only on clause-to-phrase
reduction in these examples. For such reductions to occur, the relative pronoun must be a subject
pronoun in all cases.

GRAMMATICAL

CLAUSE

CONDITION

PHRASE

Verb in adjective clause is People who live in large people

an active verb

cities...

living

in

large

cities...

Verb in adjective clause is Students who are studying at Students studying at urban
progressive

urban campuses...

campuses...

Verb in adjective clause is Children who are born with Children

passive

congenital heart disease...

born

with

congenital heart disease...

(the preferred style)

Adj. clause has the verb be Children who are most likely Children
+

adjective

infinitive to

complement

recover

from

serious recover

illness...

most

likely

from

to

serious

illness...

Adj. clause has another Dr. Francisco Ramirez, who is Dr. Francisco Ramirez, chief
name for the modified noun chief
(an appositive)

pediatric

surgeon

at pediatric

Children's Hospital,...

surgeon

at

Children's Hospital,... the

appositive

phrase

is

preferred style and is nonrestrictive.

Relative pronoun use who subject or object pronoun for people which subject or object
pronoun for animals and things which referring to a whole sentence whose possession for people
animals and things whom object pronoun for people, especially in non-defining relative clauses
(in defining relative clauses we colloquially prefer who) that subject or object pronoun for
people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible).

Relative Pronoun

Use

Who

Subject or object pronoun for people

Which

Subject or Object pronoun for animals and

things
Which

Referring to a whole sentence

Whose

Possesion for animalsand things

Whom

object pronoun for people, especially in nondefining relative clauses (in defining relative
clauses we colloquially prefer who)

That

subject or object pronoun for people, animals

and things in defining relative clauses (who or
which are also possible)

TYPE OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

An adjective clause may be classified according to the antecedant that the
introductory word refers to.
Noun Antecedent
Meaning

A person

Introductory Word

Illustrative

ReRelative Pronoun:
Subject-He paid the money to the man
Who (whom or whose) or that
who (or that) had done the work.
Object of verb-He paid the man whom
(or that) he had hired.
Object of Preposition-He paid the man
from whom he had borrowed the
money.
Possesive adjective-This is the girl
whose picture you saw.

Which or that
Subject-Here is a book which (or that)
describes animals.
Object of verb-The chair which (or

that) he broke is being repaired.

Object of preposition-She was wearing
the coat for which she had paid $2,000.

A thing

A time

ReRelative Adverb:
When

A place

This is the year when the Olympic

Games are held.

Where

Here is the house where I live.

Give me one good reason why yo

Why
A reason

USING ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

1 Adjective Clause Pronouns used As The Subject
Adjective Clause/Relative Clause with subject Pronoun :who,which, that
Without adjective clause/

Using adjective clause/

relative clause
I will introduce you to a

relative clause
(a) I will introduce you to a

friend. He runs a succesful

friend who runs a succesful

business.

business.
(b) I will introduce you to a
friend that runs a successful

The book is about religious.

business.
(c)The book which has raised

It has raised controversy.

controversy is about reigion.

(d) The book that has raised
controversy is about religion.

Another example :
I thanked the woman.
She help me.

In (a): I thank the woman =an

independent clause; who help me =an

(a) I thank the woman who help me

adjective clause. The adjective clause

(b) I thank the woman that help me

modifies the noun woman

In (a): Who is the subject of the adjective

clasue.
The book is mine.

In (b): that is the subject of the adjective

It is on the table.

clause.

(c) The book which is on the table is mine.

Note : (a) and (b) have the same meaning.

(d) The book that is on the table is mine.

(c) and (d) have the same meaning.

Who : used for people.
Which : used for things.

(e) INCORRECT: the book is mine that is

That : used for both people and things.

An adjective clause closely follows the

on the table

noun it modifies.

who, which, or that is the subject of the adjective clause.

who is used to change the subject in the form of the Objects.
that is used to change the form of the subject and object , and is more commonly

used than which. However, that can be used in defining relative clause only.
Adjective Clause Pronouns used as the Object of a verb.

Adjective clause / Relative Clause with Object Pronouns : Who(m), Which, that

whom is used to change the form of the Object ,commonly used in formal English. For

an informal conversational English who is used more often replace whom.

which is used to replace an object in the form of object.
that is used to change the form of the of the object or object ,and is more commonly

used than which. However ,that can only be used in defining relative clause only.
In conversational English (oral) ,who, which or that is often omitted.

Example :
The man was Mr. Jones.
I saw him.
(a) The man who(m) I saw was Mr.Jones.
(b) The man that I saw was Mr.Jones.
(c) The man I saw was Mr.Jones.

Notice in the example : The

adjective clause pronouns are
placed at the beginning of the
clause. (General guideline:
Place an adjective clause
pronouns as close as posible to
the noun it modifies.)
In (a): who is usually used
instead of whom ,especially in

The movie wasnt very good.

(d) The movie which we saw last night wasnt very good

speaking. Whom is generally

used only in very formal
English.
In (c) and (f): an object

(e) The movie that we saw last night wasnt very good

pronouns is often omitted from

we saw last noght wasnt very good

an adjective clause. ( A subject

We saw it last night.

(f) The movie

Pronoun, however ,may not be

omitted.)
Who(m) = used for people
Which = used for things.
That = used for both people
and thing

Adjective Clause Pronouns used As The Object of A Preposition.

The normal position of an adjective clause is immeditely after the noun or pronoun to whi

h it refers. However, sometimes a prepotional a participal phrase may intervene-(Example : He

greetedall his old friends from Paris, who were delighted to see him again.) Where such a phrase
intervenes, the antedent of the adjective clause may be ambigious. For example, in the sentence
(The Dean wrote to the parents of the students who had helped with the annual carnival), it is not
clear whether the antecedent of who is the parents or students.
Occasionally an adjective clause referring to the Subject comes after the verb, especially
when the antecedent is a pronoun-( example : everyone came who could afford the pricce of the
ticket.) such a contruction may have a literary or even an archaic flavor.
Explanation :
She is the woman
I told you about her
(a) She is the woman about whom I told you
(b) She is the woman

who(m) I told you about

(c) She is the woman

that I told you about.

(d) She is the woman

I told you about

In everyformal English , the

preposition comes at the
beginning of the adjective
clause, as in (a) and (e).
Usually
,however
,in
everyday usage , the
preposition comes after the
subject and verb of the

The music was good.

We listened to it last night.
(e) The music to which we listened last night was good.
(f) The music

which we listened to last night was good.

(g) The music

that we listened to last night was good.

(h) The music

we listened to last night was good.

adjective clause, as in the

other examples.
Note : if the preposition
comes at the beginning of
the adjective clause, only
whom or which may be
used. A preposition is never
immediately followed by
that or who.

Usual Patterns of Adjective Clause

Adjective Clause
S + Be/V + N/ Pronoun
Relative Pronoun + S + Verb

(a) USUAL : I like the people who live next to me.

LESS USUAL : I like people that live next to me.
(b) USUAL : I like books that have good plots.
LESS USUAL : I like books which have good plots.
(c) USUAL : I liked the peple I met last night.
(d) USUAL : I Liked the book I read last night.

In everyday infromal usage, often one

adjective clause pattern is use more
commonly than another.* In (a): As a
subject pronoun, who is common than
that.
In (b): As a Subject pronoun, that is
more common than which.
In (c) and (d): Object pronouns are
commonly omitted, especially in

speaking.
In sum, native speakers generally prefer who fro people and that for a thing when the
relative pronoun is the subject clause and ,and object relative pronouns are usually

omitted in restrictive clause.

Although usual in everyday usage, omiting the object pronoun is not necessary, and
indeed at times speakers/writers conciously choose to include it for clarity. On the other
hand, inclusion of the object pronoun regulary can make ones English sound stilted and

natural.
You might caution the students that sometimes it is not possible to omit the subject
pronoun, as they will discover in example above, where nonrestrictive adjective clause

are discused. There are however, nonrestrictive adjective clauses in this point, so you may
prefer simply to keep the students focus on the typical patterns of restrictive clauses, just
as the text does.
Note : Restrictive clauses limit the possible meaning of a preceding subject. Nonrestrictive
clauses tell you something about a preceding subject, but they do not limit , or restrict, the
meaning of that subject.
5. Using WHOSE
Whose functions as a possessive adjective and needs to be paired with a noun.
I know the man.
His bicycle was stolen.
(a) I know the man whose bicycle was stolen.
The student written well.
I read her composition.
(b) the student whose composition I read writes well

Mr. Catt has a painting.

Its value is inestimable.
(c) Mr. Catt has a painting whose value is inestimable

Whose is used to show

possession. It carries the same
meaning as other possessive
pronouns used as adjectives:
his,her,its,and their. Like his,
her, its, and their, whose is
connected to a noun.
His bicycle whose bicycle
Her composition - whose
composition
Both whose and the noun it is
connected to are placed at the
beginning of the adjective
clause. Whose cannot be
omitted.
Whose
usually
modifies
people, but it may also be used
to modifiy things, as in (c)

6. Using WHERE in Adjective Clauses.

The build is very old.
He live there (in that building).

Where is used in an adjective

clause to modify a place (city,
country, room, house, etc). If

(a) The building where he lives is very old

(b) The building in which he lives is very old
(c) The building which he lives in is very old
(d) The building that he lives in is very cold

Where is used ,a preposition is not

included in the adjective clause. If
Where is not used, the preposition
must be included.

(e) The building he lives in is very old

7. Using WHEN in Adjective Clause

Ill never forget the day.
I met you then(on that day).
(a) Ill never forget the day when
(b) Ill never forget the day

I met you.

on which I met you.

(c) Ill never forget the day

that

I met you.

(d) Ill never forget the day

I met you.

When is used in an adjective

clause to modify a noun of
time
(year
,day
.time,
century,etc.)
The use of a preposition in an
adjective clauses that modifies
a noun of time is somewhat
different from that in other
adjective clauses: A preposition
is used preceding which, as in
(d). Otherwisw, the preposition
is omitted.

8. Using Adjective Clauses to Modify Pronouns.

Indefinite pronoun is does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and
not definite. Some typical indefinite pronouns are : all, another, anybody/anyone, anything,
each, everybody/averyone, everything, few ,many, nobody, none, one ,several, some,
somebody/someone.
(a) There is someone (whom) I want to meet
(b) Everything he said was pure nonsense.
(c) Anybody who want to come is welcome.
(d) Paula was the only one I knew at the
party
(e) Scholarships are available for those who
need financial assintance.

Adjective : Clauses can modify indefinite

pronouns(e.g,someone, everybody). Object
pronouns (e.g, who(m), that,which) are
usually omitted in the adjective clause.
Adjective Clauses can modify the one(s)
and those.

(f) Incorrect: I who am a student at this

Adjective Clause are almost never used to

modify personal pronouns. Native English
school come from a country in Asia.
speaker would not write the sentence in (f).
(g) It is I who am responsible.
(g) is very possible but very formal and
(h) He who laughs last laughs best.
uncommon. (h) is a well-know saying in
which he is used as an indefinte pronoun
(meaninganyone,any person)
*An Adjective clause with which can also be used to modify the demonstrative pronoun that. For
example : We sometime fear that which we do not understand.
The bread my mother make is much better than that which you can buy at a store.
9. Punctuating Adjective Clauses
General guidelines for the punctuating of adjective clauses:
(1) DO NOT USE COMMAS IF the adjective clause is necessary to identify the noun it modifies
(2)USE COMMAS IF the adjective clause simply gives additional information and is not
necessary to identify the noun ot modifies.**
(a) The professor who teaches Chemistry 101
is an excellent lecture.
(b)Professor Wilson, who teachs Chemistry
101, is an excellent lecture.

(c) Hawaii, which consist of eight principal

island ,is a favorite vacation spot.
(d) Mrs. Smith, who is a retired teacher, does
volunteer work at the hospital.
(e) The man(who(m), that, ) I met teacher
Chemistry.
(f) Mr.Lee, whom I met yesterday, teaches
chemistry.

COMPARE THE MEANING

(g) We took some children on a picnic. The

In (a): No commas are used. The adjective

clause is necessary to identify which Professor
is meant.
In (b): commas are use. The adjective clause is
not necessary to identify Professor Wilson. We
already know who he is :he has a name. The
adjective clause simply gives additional
information.
Guideline: Use commas ,as in (b), (c), and (d),
if an adjective clause modifies a proper noun.
(A proper noun begin with a capital letter)
Note : A comma reflect a pause in speech.
In (e): If no commas are used, any possible
pronoun may be used in the adjective clause.
Object pronoun may be omitted.
In (f): When commas are necessary, the
pronoun that may not be used(only who,
whom, which, whose, where, and when may
be used), and object pronouns cannot be
omitted.
In (g): the use of commas means that all of the
children wanted to play soccer and all of the

children who wanted to play soccer, ran to an

open field as soon as we arrived at the park.
(h) We took some cildren on a picnic. The
children who wanted to play soccer ran to an
open field as soon as we arrived at the park.
The other played a different game.

children ran to an open field. The adjective

clause is used only to give additional
information about the children.
In (h): the lack of commas means that only
some of the children wanted to play soccer.
The adjective clauses is used to identify which
children ran to the open field.

** There are three Guideline s should help you decid when to set off an adjective clause (also
called a relative clause) with commas :
1. Adjective Clause beginning with THAT are never set off from the main clause with
commas.
Example : Food that has turned green in the refrigerator should be thrown away.
2. Adjective Clauses beginning with WHO or WHICH not be set off with commas if

omitting the clause would change the basic meaning of the sentence.
Example : students who turn green should be sent to the infrimary.
Reason : Because we dont mean that all student should be sent to the infirmary, the
adjective clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. For this reason, we dont set

off the adjective clause with commas.

3. Adjective Clause beginning with WHP or WHICH should be set off with commas if

omitting the clause would not change the basic meaning of the sentence.
Example : last weeks pudding, which has turned green in refrigerator, should be thrown

away.
Reason : here the which clause provides added but not essensial information, and so we
set it off from the rest of the sentence with commas.

10. Using Exoressions Of Quantity In Adjective Clauses.

In my class there are 20 students.
Most of them are from the Far East.
(a) In my class there are 20 stydents, most of whom are
from Asia.

An adjective clause may contaib

an expression of quantity with
of: some of, many of, none of,
two of, half of, both of, neither
of, each of, all of, several of, a
few of, little of, anumber of, etc.

He gave several reason.

The expression of quantity

precedes the pronoun. Only
Only a few of them were valid.
whom, which,and whose are
(b) He gave several reason, only a few of which were valid.
used in this pattern.
Adjective clauses that begin
The teachers discussed Jim.
with an expression of quantity
One of his problems was poor study habits.
are more common in writing
(c)The teachers discussed Jim, one of whose problems was than speaking. Commas are
poor study habits.
used.

11. Using NOUN + Of WHICH

We have an antique table.

The top of it has jade inlay.
(a) We have an antique table, the top of which
has jade inlay.

An adjective clause may include a noun +

of which (e.g ,the top of which). The
pattern carries the meaning of whose (e.g ,
We have an antique table whose top has
jade inlay). This pattern is used in an
adjective clause that modifies a thing and
occurs in formal written English. A
commas is used.

12. Using WHICH to odify a Whole Sentence.

The pronoun that and this can refer to
the idea of a whole sentence which
comes before. In (b): The word that
rfers to the whole sentence Tom was
late.
(a) Tom was late. (b) That surprised me.
Similarly, an adjective clause with
which may modify the idea of a whole
(c) Tom was late, which surprised me.
sentence. In (c) : The word which refers
to the whole sentence Tom was late.
(d) The elevator is out of order. (e) This is too bad. Using which to modify a whole
(f) The elevator is out of order, which is too bad. sentence is informal and occurs
frequently in spoken English. This
structure is generally not appropriate in
formal writing. Whenever it is written,
however, it is preceded by a comma to
reflect to reflect a pause in speech.

13. Reducing Adjective Clauses to Adjective Phrases: Introduction

CLAUSE : A clause is a group of related word that contains a subject and a verb
PHRASES: A phrases is a group of telated words that does not contain a subject and a verb
(a) Adjective Clause:
An adjective phrse is a reduction of an
The girl (who is sitting next to me ) is Maria.

adjective clause. It modifies a noun. It does

(b) Adjective Phrase:

not contain a subject and verb. The adjective

The girl (sitting next to me) is Maria

clause in (a ) can be reduced to the adjective

(c) Clause: The bo (who is playing the piano )

phrase in (b). (a) and (b) have the same name.

Only adjective clause that have a subject

is Ben

pronounwho,which,or thatare reduced to

(d) Phrase: The boy (playing the piano) is Ben modifying adjective phrases.
(e) Clause: The boy ((Whom) I saw) was Tom
(f) Phrase: (None)

The adjective clause in (e) cannot be reduced

to an adjective phrase.

14. Changing an Adjective Clause to an Adjective Phrase

(a) Clause: The man who is talking to John is from Korea.
Phrase: The man

talking to John is from Korea.

(b) Clause: The ideas which are presented in that book are good.
Phrase: The ideas

presented in that book are good.

(c) Clause: Ann is the woman who is responsible for the error.
Phrase: Ann is the woman

responsible for the error.

(d) Clause: The books that are on that shelf are mine.
Phrase: The books on that shelf are mine.

There are two ways in

which an adjective clause is
change to an adjective
phrase.
1. if the adjective contains
the be form form of a verb,
omit the pronoun and the be
from ,as in example (a),(b),

of 26 leters.

(c) ,and (d).

2. if there is no be form of a

Phrase: English has an alphabet consisting of 26 letters.

verb in the adjective clause,

(e) Clause: English has an alphabet that consist

(f) Clause: Anyone who wants to come with us is welcome.

Phrase: Anyone

wanting to come with us is welcome

it is sometimes possible to
omit the subject pronoun
and change the verb to its

(g) George Washington who was the fo\irst President of the

ing form, as in (e) and (f).

If trhe adjective clause

United states, was a wealthy colonist and a general in the army.

requires commas, as in (g),

(h) George Washington the first President of the United States,

the adjective phrase also

was a wealthy colonist and a general in the army.

(i) Paris, the capital of France, is an exiting city.

requires commas, as in (b)

Adjective phrases in which

(j) I read a book by Mark Twain, a famous American.

to which a noun follows

another noun, as in (h), (i),
and (j), are called

appositives.
*If an adjective clause that contains be + a single adjective is change, the adjective is moved to
its normal position in front of the noun it modifies.
Clause

: Fruit that is fresh taste beteer than old, soft, mushy fruit.

Correct Phrase : Fresh fruite taste better than old , soft, mushy fruit.
Incorrect Phrase: Fruit fresh tastes better than old, soft, mushy fruit.

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
Adjectives clauses have a subject and a verb (or predicate). They will start with a relative
pronoun, like: that, who, whom, whose, or which, or a relative adverb, like why, where, or when.
Adjective clauses function as an adjective and modify nouns and pronouns. They are also called
relative clauses.

Just as the other dependent clauses, the adjective clause does not express a complete
thought. It does not need commas separating it from the rest of the sentence if it has essential
information in it; that is if you need the information it provides. If it gives additional information,
then you use commas. In the examples below, you will see a noun modified by an adjective
clause and then an example of the same noun modified by the shorter adjective phrase. The red
dots indicate that the main clause is incomplete as you are focusing only on clause-to-phrase
reduction in these examples. For such reductions to occur, the relative pronoun must be a subject
pronoun in all cases. Here are used informal and formal situation to make that speak completely.

REFERENCE