Adjective
Clauses
Adjective clauses (relative
clauses) are like "sentences inside sentences." The "job"
of adjective clauses is to modify (describe, identify, make
specific) the noun phrases that they follow. In their full forms, adjective
clauses have several parts: a relative pronoun (or, in some cases,
another kind of connecting word), a subject, and a predicate (a
verb and, often, other types of words which follow it).
In adjective clauses,
the relative pronoun is a kind of connecting word: it joins the information in
the clause to the noun phrase that it follows. Without the adjective clause, the
meaning of the modified noun phrase (and of the sentence) is unclear and
incomplete.
Examples (full forms):
I know a person who / that can help you.
I know a person who(m) / that you can help.
I know a person whose advice I can trust.
I know a person to whom I can refer you. /
I know a person who(m) / that I can refer you to.
I know a person who(m) / that you can help.
I know a person whose advice I can trust.
I know a person to whom I can refer you. /
I know a person who(m) / that I can refer you to.
I want a car that / which gets good gas mileage.
I can't afford the car that / which I really want.
I can't afford the car that / which I really want.
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Types
of Adjective Clauses
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1.
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"Subject Pattern" Clauses
In this type of
adjective clause, the relative pronoun is the subject of the
clause. Subject pattern clauses can, however, modify both subjects and
objects of sentences:
The man who /
that talked to us was very friendly.
Do you know the
man who / that talked to us?
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2.
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"Object Pattern" Clauses
In this type of
adjective clause, the relative pronoun is the object of the clause
(but
an object pattern clause can modify both subjects and objects of sentences):
The people who(m)
/ that we met seemed very friendly.
The people to
whom / that we were speaking seemed very friendly. /
The people who(m) / that we were speaking to seemed very friendly.
I recently saw the
people to whom / that we were talking. / I recently saw the people who(m)
/ that we were talking to.
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3.
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Clauses Showing Possession
Here, the relative
pronoun is possessive and is attached to another word in the
adjective clause:
The people whose
names are called will work the first shift.
Do you know the
student whose brother won a gold medal in the Olympics?
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