Integrated Skills B.A.2 ch.

13 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

ADJECTIVE CLAUSE - A PHRASE THATWORKSAS ANADJECTIVE

__________________________________________________________________________
The tall man smiled.
The man who had long hair smiled. 

Words introducing adjective clauses:

• RELATIVE _________________
PRONOUNS : ________
whom , ________
whose , ________ that
who , ________ - referring to people
that
________ , ________
which , ________
whose - referring to animals/objects
• RELATIVE _________________:
ADVERBS when, where

Exercise 1
Draw one line under each adjective clause and circle each word that introduces an adjective clause.

1. Is this the place where you had the accident?

2. The woman whose briefcase you found is here to pick it up.
3. Is this the toaster that always burns the toast
4. The phone call that I just answered was for you.
5. The people who own that black dog live around the corner.

AGREEMENT IN ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Exercise 2
Choose the correct verb form in parentheses for each adjective clause in the sentences below. Then
identify the antecedent of each pronoun that begins an adjective clause.
1. J. R. R. Tolkien, who (is, are) a fantastic writer, created his own language for the Fellowship of the Rings
books.
2. Boys who (has, have) limited interest in athletics are sometimes teased.
3. Dogs aren’t the only pets that (attaches, attach) emotionally to their owners.

POSITION OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

An adjective clause should come RIGHT _______________
AFTER its antecedent, no matter where it stands.
My blue trainers were under the bed which used to be my mom's.
My blue trainers, which used to be my mom's, were under the bed.
Recently, a good friend of mine at the USWPS, who is currently working on her MA thesis, received a job offer
from an international company.
The team won the championship, which shocked the opponents.

1
 TYPE RESTRICTIVE
________________________ NONRESTRICTIVE
________________________
• Start with a RELATIVE
_____________
pronounlaoverB • Start with a RELATIVE
_____________
pronounlaoverB
• Answer “which one?” • Don’t answer “which one?”
• Give _____________
ESSENTIAL information • Give _____________
EXTRA information
• Change the meaning of the sentence • Can be deleted without affecting the
• Uses NO commas meaning of the sentence.
• Uses commas
− People who don’t exercise get fat. − Tom who swims well is my brother.
− The experience that you have is very − My apartment which is near here
EXAMPLES valuable. was not very expensive.
− The town that I currently live in is − The town that is relatively small was
Warsaw. awarded by the President.

Exercise 3
Decide if the sentences are restrictive or nonrestrictive. Add appropriate punctuation marks where it is
necessary.
1. Mr Smith who visited us during last Christmas is a good friend of my parents.
2. Those employees who had good sales results will be promoted by their boss.
3. My aunt Sally who is recovering from the flu will not be at the reunion.
4. Those are the cookies that I made for the charity bake sale.

RELATIVE PRONOUNS AS SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS

s takes
v 6 months.
o o s v
This is a course which This is the course which I took.
s speaks
He is the teacher who v o
three o s I vmet.
He is the teacher who
foreign languages.

SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUN

Step 1: Find the two words that refer to the the same thing/person.
The girl is in my class.  She likes Ellen DeGeneres.
Step 2: Replace the second word with a relative pronoun 
The girl  is in my class.  She WHO/THAT likes Ellen DeGeneres.
Step 3: Move the whole {adjective clause} behind the noun it modifies.
The girl  {who likes Ellen DeGeneres } is in my class.  
The girl  {that likes Ellen DeGeneres } is in my class.

PEOPLE ANIMALS/THINGS
RESTRICTIVE ______,
WHO THAT______, THAT

NONRESTRICTIVE ______,
WHO ______,
WHICH

2
 Exercise 4
Change the second sentence into an adjective clause.


1. Do you see the cat? It is on the roof. R 3.She invited a guy to the party. The guy dances
really well. N
____________________________________________ R
Do youseethecat that1which is on
____________________________________________
theroof sheinvited a guywhodances
____________________________________________
reallywell
____________________________________________
to the party
2. The man is a dentist. He lives next to me. R 4.The desk is made of oak. It was built by my
The that wholivesnext me
____________________________________________
man to friend. N
R
____________________________________________
a dentist
is That desk that1which is madeofoak
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
was built bymyfriend

OBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUN

Step 1: What is the same in both sentences?
The woman is in my class. I like her.
Step 2: Replace the second word with a relative pronoun (who/whom/that/(nothing)/which)
The woman is in my class. I like her who(m) / that / Ø.
Step 3: Move the object relative pronoun to the beginning of the second sentence/clause.
The woman is in my class. who(m)/that/ Ø I like her .
Step 4: Move the whole {adjective clause} behind the noun it modifies.
The woman {whom I like} is in my class. 
The woman {who I like} is in my class. 
The woman {that I like} is in my class. 
The woman {I like} is in my class. 

THAT
It is possible to omit ___________ WHO 1Mt in object pattern clauses.
or ___________

PEOPLE ANIMALS/THINGS
______, ______,whom
______, ______, ______,
RESTRICTIVE who that which that
______, WHICH
NONRESTRICTIVE who m

Exercise 5
Change the second sentence into an adjective clause.

1. The printer is broken. We were using it 3. I don’t want to hear the song. We just heard
yesterday. it.
NR
__________________________________________
Theprinter whichwewereusing
__________________________________________
I don'twanttohearthe song thatwe
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
yesterday is
broken
just heard
2. He’s always talking about his car. He bought 4. I invited the professor. You met him last year.
it last year in London. R
__________________________________________
I invited theprofessor that met
__________________________________________
you
__________________________________________

He's alwaystalkingabouthis car
__________________________________________
last year
that he bought last in London
year
3
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

The relative pronoun WHOSE

__________ replaces a When whose+noun is the SUBJECT of an adjective
possessive word in possessive adjective clauses. clause the VERB agrees with the __________.
NOUN
The author is John Doe. She likes the author's books Susan takes care of two kittens whose mother
best. is sick.
_____

authorwhosebooksshelikesbestisJohnDoe
____________________________________________
The

CAUTION - There is a problem when you want to make a possessive adjective clause
for things because English does not have a special relative pronoun for this
situation:

She just bought a computer. The computer's Shejustboughta computer

__________________________________________
which
processor speed is 450 mhz.
processorspeed is 450mHz
__________________________________________

RELATIVE PRONOUNS AS OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS

Mary gave me good advice. I spoke to her yesterday. FORMAL

Mary to whom I
____________________________________________
spokeyesterday
gave me a good advice
____________________________________________
INFORMAL
whom spoke to
I
____________________________________________
Mary yesterday
gaveme a goodadvice
____________________________________________

The bag was empty. She looked in it. FORMAL

The bagin whichshelookedin

____________________________________________

was
____________________________________________
empty
INFORMAL
The bag thatshe looked in was
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
empty

Exercise 6
Choose each answer below that includes all the correct choices.

1. The keys __ Mary was looking for had fallen 2. I’m sorry, but the software in __ you are
behind the sofa. interested is only available as a download
a. which / that from our website.
O
b. which / that / Ø
c. for which o
a. which
b. which / that
c. which / that / Ø
4
3. The wedding dress __ Lori keeps talking 4. Dorothy, the guy with __ you spent time last
about costs over $5,000! weekend is on the phone for you.
a. which a. who
O
b. which / that / Ø
c. about which 0
b. whom
c. whom / that
d. whom / that / Ø

RELATIVE PRONOUNS IN PHRASES OF QUANTITY AND QUALITY

Relative clauses beginning with a quantity word (such assome
lone1
_____________, much1
_____________,_____________)
none many
the oldest themostinteresting thebest
or quality word (such as _____________,
1_____________, _____________)
1 followed by of which or of
whom are always ____________________;
NONRESTRICTIVE that is, they are always used _________________________.
WITHCOMMAS
PEOPLE ANIMALS/THINGS
____________________ OF WHOM OF WHICH
• They selected five candidates, one of • The report mentioned five names,
whom would get the job. none of which I recognized.
• He has four sons, the oldest of whom • Ben’s story, the funniest of which I
is studying abroad. have ever heard, was about a patient
and a doctor.

Note that you need only the relative pronoun, not a personal pronoun in addition.
  WRONG    He hired some students, which most of them were his classmates.
  CORRECT    He hired some students, most of whom were his classmates.

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES OF TIME AND PLACE

The building is on Chodakowska Street. Judie The building in whichwhereJudie

__________________________________________
studies in the building.
Studies is onChodakowskaStreet
__________________________________________

Do not use prepositions before either where or when in an adjective clause:

WRONG  The building in where Judie studies is on Chodakowska Street.

Exercise 7
Connect the sentences by using an adjective clause.
1. 1492 is the year. Columbus discovered North America in that year.

1492 isthe when inwhichthat Columbusdiscovered NorthAmerica

__________________________________________________________________________________________
year
2. Beijing is the place. That place has an area in a park called English Corner.

Beijing istheplace which has anarea in a parkcalledEnglish corner

__________________________________________________________________________________________

3. I come from a city. In that city, you can go dancing all night long.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Icome a
from city where
youcangodancing all nightlong