Cristina Castro Grammar III Adjective clauses
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Adjective clauses: 1. Adjective clauses with subject relative pronouns: 1.1 Adjective clauses after the main clause: Main clause Subject Verb Predicate Noun/Pronoun I read a book A friend is someone
Adjective clause Subject Verb Complement Relative pronoun that discusses friends who knows you well
Whose + noun I have a friend Whose home is in Boston
1.2 Adjective clauses inside the main clause: Main clause Subject Noun/Pronoun The book Someone
Adjective clause Main clause Subject Verb Verb Relative pronoun that discusses friends is by Ruben. who knows you can give you advice.
Whose + Noun My friend whose sister writes books lives in Boston Grammar Rules: 1. Use adjective clauses to identify or give additional information about nouns (people, places, or things). I know the woman who lives across the street. Hamburg, which is my hometown, is still my favorite city. Adjective clauses can also identify or describe indefinite pronouns such as one, someone, somebody, something, another, and other (s).
I´d like to meet someone who speaks Italian.
In most cases the adjective clause directly follows the noun (or pronoun) it is identifying or describing.
2. Sentences with adjective clauses can be seen as a combination of two sentences. I have a friend + she loves to shop = I have a friend who loves to shop. Shelly calls often. + She lives in Rome. = Shelly, who lives in Rome, calls often. Diane has a son. + His name is Max. = Diane has a son whose name is Max. 3. Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns. Relative pronouns that can be the subject of the clause are who, what, which, and whose. 2
a. Use who or that to refer to people. I have a friend who lives in Mexico I have a friend that lives in Mexico. b. Use which or that to refer to places or things. New York is a city which attracts a lot of tourists. That is less formal than who and which is more frequently used in conversation. New York is a city that attracts a lot of tourists. c. Use whose + noun to show possession or relationship. She´s the neighbor whose house is for sale. Do not use a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and a subject relative pronoun in the same adjective clause.
Scott is someone who never forgets a friend´s birthday. Scott is someone who he never forgets a friend´s birthday.
4. Relative pronouns have the same form whether they refer to singular or plural nouns, or to males or females. That´s the man who lives next door. That´s the woman who lives next door. Those are the people who live next door. 5. The verb in the adjective clause is singular if the subject relative pronoun refers to a singular noun. It is plural if it refers to a plural noun. Ben is my friend who lives in Boston. Al and Ed are my friends who live in Boston. When whose + noun is the subject of an adjective clause, the verbs agrees with the subject of the adjective clause.
Maria is a person whose friends are important to her. Maria is a person whose friends is important to her. 6. There are two kinds of adjective clauses, Identifying or non-identifying (sometimes called restrictive and nonrestrictive). a. Use an identifying adjective clause to identify which member of a group the sentence talks about. Do not use comas with this kind of adjective clause. I have a lot of good friends. My best friend who lives in Chicago visits me often. (The adjective clause is necessary to identify which friend) b. Use a non-identifying adjective clause to give additional information about the noun it refers to. The information is not necessary to identify the noun. Use a comma before and after the adjective clause. I have a lot of good friends. My best friend, who lives in Chicago, visits me often. (The friend has already been identified as the speaker´s best friend. The adjective clause gives additional information, but it is not needed to identify the friend.)
Do not use that to introduce nonidentifying adjective clauses. Use who for people and which for places and things. 3
Marielle, who introduces us at the party, called me last night. Marielle that introduces us at the party, called me last night. Miami, which reminds me of home, is my favorite vacation spot. Miami, that reminds me of home, is my favorite spot. 7. In writing, a nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. My sister, who lives in Seattle, came to visit me this year. In speaking a nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by brief pauses.
My sister (pause) who lives in Seattle (pause) came to visit me this year.
Without commas or pauses the same sentence has a very different meaning.
My sister who lives in Seattle came to visit me last year. (I have several sisters. This one leaves in Seattle)
2. Adjective clauses with object relative pronouns or when and where. 2.1 Adjective clauses after the main clause. Main clause Subject Verb He She
Predicate Noun/Pronoun Read the book is someone
Adjective clause Object Subject Verb Relative pronoun that she wrote. who(m) I respect.
Whose + Noun That is The author Whose book I read.
She loves the city They cried the day
Where (when) where she grew up. when they Left.
Main clause Adjective clause Subject Object relative subject verb pronoun The book that I read Someone who(m) you know
Main clause verb Complement is was
great. there.
Main Adjective Main clause clause clause The library where I work has videos. The summer when she left passed slowly.
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Grammar rules: 1. Relative pronouns can be also the object of an adjective clause. Notice that a. The object relative pronoun comes at the beginning of the adjective clause. Eva, who (m) I saw on TV, is a writer. That´s the man who (m) I met. b. Relative pronouns (subject or object) have the same form whether they refer to singular or plural nouns, or to males or females. That´s the woman who (m) I met. Those are the people who (m) I met. c. The verb in the adjective clause agrees with the subject of the adjective clause. It does not agree with the relative pronoun or the noun that the relative pronoun refers to. I like the columns which she writes. I like the column which they write. Do not use an object pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) together with an object relative pronoun in an adjective clause.
She is the writer who I saw on TV. She is the writer who I saw her on TV.
2. Remember: There are two kinds of adjective clauses; identifying and nonidentifying. I read a lot of books. The book which I just finished is by Eva Hoffman. (Identifying) I read a lot of books. This book, which I just finished, is by Eva Hoffman. (nonidentifying) You can often leave out an object relative pronoun in an identifying adjective clause. Y ou cannot leave out subject relative pronouns).
He is the author that I talked to. He is the author I talked to.
3. Relative pronouns that can be the object of the adjective clause are who (m), that, which, and whose. a. Use whom, who, or that to refer to people. Note that in this case, you can also leave out the relative pronoun. She is the writer whom I met. She is the writer who I met She is the writer that I met. She is the writer I met. Whom is very formal. Most people do not use whom in everyday speech. That is less formal than who. In everyday speech, most people use no relative pronoun. b. Use which or that to refer to things. You can also leave out the relative pronoun. I read a book which she wrote. I read a book that she wrote. I read a book she wrote. 5
That is less formal than which. In everyday speech most people use no relative pronoun. c. Use whose to show possession or relationship. You cannot leave out whose. That´s the author whose book I read. That´s the author book I read. You can only leave out relative pronouns in identifying adjective clauses. You must use the relative pronoun in a nonidentifying adjective clause. You cannot leave it out.
She remembers Marek, who she visited often. She remembers Marek, she visited often.
4. The relative pronouns who (m), that, which, and whose can be the object of a preposition. He´s the writer + I work for him. = He is the writer whom I work for. / He´s the writer who I work for. / He´s the writer that I work for. / He´s the writer I work for. You can leave out who (m), that, and which, but not whose.
He´s the writer. + I work for his wife. = He´s the writer whose wife I work for.
In everyday spoken English and in informal writing we put the preposition at the end of the clause.
He´s the writer who I work for. That´s the book that she spoke about.
In formal English, we put the preposition at the beginning of the clause. When the preposition is at the beginning, we use only whom (not who or that) for people and which (not that) for things.
He´s the writer for whom I work. That´s the book about which she spoke.
5. When and where can also be used to begin adjective clauses. a. Where to refer to a place. That´s the library where she works. b. When or that to refers to a time. I remember the day when I met him. I remember the day that I met him. I remember the day I met him. Note you can also leave out when and that in identifying adjective clauses. Practices: http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-1.html http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/clauses-2.html http://eslgrammarpractice.blogspot.com/2011/10/using-relative-pronouns-and-adjective.html 6
http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=872 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?02 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?05 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?10 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?06 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?11 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?09 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?08 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?04 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?12 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/relative-clauses/exercises?07 http://www.ego4u.com/en/read-on/countries/usa/tour/san-francisco#exercises http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/relative-clauses-1 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/relative-clauses-2 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/relative-clauses-3 http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/tests/relative-clauses-4
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