ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS We use adjective clauses to identify or give additional information about nouns (people, places, or things). •
Students who are intelligent get good grades.
(The clause who are intelligent get good grades identify the students).
•
Pizza, which most people love, is not very healthy.
(The clause which most people love, is not very healthy identifies the pizza).
Adjective clauses can also identify or describe indefinite pronouns such us one, someone, somebody, something, another, and other(s). •
I would like to know someone who speaks English in order to practice my pronunciation.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS Sentences with adjective clauses can be seen as a combination of two sentences.
The boy is playing soccer + The man is kicking the balloon.
The boy who is kicking the balloon is playing soccer.
Silvana has a son + His name is Ian Gabriel. Silvana has a son whose name is Ian Gabriel.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns. Relative pronouns that can be the subject of the clause are who, that, which, and whose.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS That is less formal than who and which and more frequently used in conversations. • •
The kids who/that were called first will have the best chance of getting a seat. The book which/that I hadn´t read fell on my head.
Use whose + noun to show possession or relationship. • He is the neighbor whose house is for sale. • She knew the family whose house we bought. • Silvana has a son whose name is Ian Gabriel.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS There are two kinds of adjective clauses, identifying and nonidentifying. Use an identifying adjective clause to identify which member of a group the sentence talks about. Do not use commas with this kind of adjective clause. • I have a lot of good friends. My friend who lives in Colombia visits me often. (The adjective clause is necessary to identify which friend). Use a nonidentifying 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 Colombia, visits me often. (The friend has already been identified as the speaker´s best friend. The adjective clause gives additional information, but it isn´t needed to identify the friend).
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS That can replace both who and which. However, this is not always possible. That cannot be used in nonidentifying relative clauses. Note that a non-identifying relative clause can be easily removed from the sentence. An identifying relative clause, on the other hand, cannot be removed that easily. If it is removed from the sentence, the meaning will change. (Identifying relative clause) • They opposed the motion that / which was proposed by the rival group. Now remove the relative clause ‘that / which was proposed by the rival group’ and you will get the simple sentence ‘They opposed the motion’. As you can see, this sentence does not mean the same as the original sentence because it doesn’t identify the motion under discussion.
Now consider another sentence. (Nonidentifying relative clause) • My Brother, who lives in Colombia, is a systems engineer. (NOT My brother, that lives in Colombia,…) Here the relative clause who lives in Colombia is non-identifying. It merely provides additional information. Even if you remove it from the sentence the meaning doesn’t change. • My brother is a systems engineer. As you can see, this sentence means the same as the original sentence; it just doesn’t give as much information.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS In writing, a nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. • My brother, who lives in Colombia, came to visit me this year. In speaking, a nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by brief pauses. • My brother (pause) who lives in Colombia (pause) came to visit me this year. (I have only one brother. He lives in Colombia). Without commas or pauses the same sentence has a very different meaning. • My brother who lives in Colombia came to visit me this year. I have several brothers. (This one lives in Colombia).
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS The relative pronoun is the subject. The relative clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence. We can't drop the relative pronoun. For example (clause after the object of the sentence): • I'm looking for a secretary who / that can use a computer well. • She has a son who / that is a doctor. • We bought a house which / that is 200 years old. • I sent a letter which / that arrived three weeks later. For example (clause after the subject of the sentence): • The people who / that live on the island are very friendly. • The man who / that phoned is my brother. • The camera which / that costs $100 is over there. • The house which / that belongs to Julie is in London.
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH SUBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS The relative pronoun is the object: In this case we can drop the relative pronoun if we want to. Again, the clause can come after the subject or the object of the sentence. For example (Clause after the object) • She loves the chocolate (which / that) I bought. • We went to the village (which / that) Lucy recommended. • John met a woman (who / that) I had been to school with. • The police arrested a man (who / that) Jill worked with. For example (Clause after the subject) • The bike (which / that) I loved was stolen. • The university (which / that) she likes is famous. • The woman (who / that) my brother loves is from Bucaramanga. • The doctor (who / that) my grandmother liked lives in New York.
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