Adjective Clause

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES WITH OBJECT RELATIVE PRONOUNS

OR WHEN AND WHERE

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES AFTER THE MAIN CLAUSE

Main Clause			Adjective Clause
Subject	Verb	Predicate Noun/Pronoun	Object Relative Pronoun	Subject	Verb
He She	read is	the book someone	(that) (who[m])	she I	wrote. respect.
			Whose + Noun
That	is	the author	whose book	I	read.
			Where / (When)
She	loves	the city	where	she	grew up
They	cried	the day	(when)	they	left

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES INSIDE THE MAIN CLAUSE

Main Clause	Adjective Clause			Main Clause(cont.)
Subject	Subject Relative Pronoun	Subject	Verb	Verb
The book Someone	that (who[m])	I you	read know	is was	great. there.
	Whose + Noun
The man	whose sister	you	know	writes	books.
	Where/(When)
The library	where	I	work	has	videos.
The summer	(when)	she	left	passed	slowly.

GRAMMAR NOTES                                                                          EXAMPLES

1.         In previous adjective clause, youlearned about adjective clauses in which the relative pronoun was the subject of the clause. Relative pronouns can also be the object of an adjective clause. Notice that: a.         The object relative pronoun comes at the beginning of the adjective clause. b.         Relative Pronouns (subject or object) have the same form whether they refer to singular or plural nouns, or to males or females. 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. Be careful! Do not use an object pronoun (me, you, him, her, it, us, them) together with an object relative pronoun in an adjective clause.

subj. Eva is a writer. + She was born in Poland. = subj. ·       Eva, who was born in Poland, is a writer. obj. Eva is a writer. + I saw her on TV. = ·       Eva, who(m) I saw on TV, is a writer. ·       That’s the man who(m) I met. ·       That’s the woman who(m) I met. ·       Those are the people who(m) I met.                                                        subj.  verb ·       I like the columns which he writes. ·       I like the column which they write. ·       She is the writer whoI saw on TV. NOT   She is the writer who I saw heron TV.

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2.         Remember!There are two kinds of adjective clauses, identifying and non-identifying. You can often leave out an object relative pronoun in an identifying adjective clause. (You cannot leave out subject relative pronouns.)

Identifying ·       I read a lot of books. The book which I just finished is by Eva Hoffman. (The adjective clause is necessary to identify which book I mean.) Non-identifying ·       I read a lot of books. This book, which I just finished, is by Eva Hoffman. (I’m pointing to the book, so the adjective clause isn’t needed to identify it. The clause gives additional information.) ·        He’s the author that I talked to.                         or ·        He’s 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 thatto prefer to people. Note that in this case, you can also leave out the relative pronoun. USAGE NOTE: Whom is very formal. Most people do not use whom in every day speech. That is less formal than who. In every day speech, most people use no relative pronoun. b.         Use whichor thatto refer to things. You can also leave out the relative pronoun. USAGE NOTE: Again, that is less formal than which. In every day speech, most people use no relative pronoun. c.          Use whose + noun to show possession or relationship. You cannot leave out whose. Be careful!You can only leave out relative pronouns in identifying adjective clauses. You must use the relative pronoun in a non-identifying adjective clause. You cannot leave it out.

·       She’s the writer whom I met. or ·       She’s the writer who I met. or ·       She’s the writer that I met. or ·       She’s the writer I met.   ·       I read a book which she wrote.                            or ·       I read a book that she wrote.                            or ·       I read a book she wrote. ·       That’s the author whose book I read. NOTThat’s the author book I read. ·        She remembers Marek, who she visited often. NOT She remembers Marekshe visited often.

4.         The relative pronouns who(m), that, which, and whosecan be the object of a preposition.          Note that you can leave out who(m), that, and which, but not whose USAGE NOTES In everyday spoken English and in informalwriting, we put the preposition at the end of the clause In formal English, we put preposition at the beginning of the clause. We use only whom(not who or that) for people, and which(not that) for things

He’s the writer. + I work for him. = ·       He’s the writer whom I work for.                                 or ·       He’s the writer who I work for.                                 or ·       He’s the writer that I work for.                                 or ·       He’s the writer I work for. He’s the writer. + I work for his wife. = ·       He’s the writer whose wife I work for. ·       He’s the writer whoI work for. ·       That’s the book thathe spoke about. ·       He’s the writer forwhomI work. ·       That’s the book aboutwhichhe spoke.

5.         When and where can also be used to begin adjective clauses. a.         Where refer to a place b.         When or that refers to a time Notethat you can leave out when and that in identifying adjective clauses.

That’s the library. + She works there. = ·       That’s the library where she works. I remember the day. + I met him then.= ·       I remember the day when I met him.                                      or ·       I remember the day that I met him.                             or ·       I remember the day I met him.