ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

Adjective clause are also called relative clause. An adjective clause consists of a subject and a predicate that modifies a preceding noun or pronoun (its antecedent ). Keep in mind that the introductory word who or that refers to a person, which or that to a thing. When to at time, where to place, why to a reason.

1.      A person ( who,whom,whose )

a.       Subject : He paid the money to the man who had done the work.

b.      Object : He paid the man whom he had hired.

c.       Object of preposition : He paid the man from whom he had borrowed the mone.

d.      Possessive : This is girl whose picture you saw.

2.      A thing ( which, of which )

a.       Subject : here is book which describes animals.

b.      Object : the chair which he broke he is being repaired.

c.       Object of prepositions : She was wearing the coat for which she had paid $2000.

d.      Possessive : That tree, the branches of which are almost bare, is a very old man.

3.      A time ( when )

a.       This is the time when the olympic games are held

4.      A place ( where )

a.       Here is the house where I live.

5.      A reason ( why )

a.       Give me one good reason why you did that.

To give clear descriptions about the funtions of the introductory words above, lets see the following :

A.    Person as the subject of the adjective clause :

Person as the subject of the man who had done the work.

a.       He paid the money to the man

b.      The man had done the work

subject

The word “ the man “ in this example is functioning as the subject of the adjective clause. It can be seen from the position of “ the man” in the second sentence, that is “ the man had done the work “.

B.     Person as the object of verb in the adjective clause :

He paid the man whom he had hired.

a.       He paid the man

b.      He had hired the man

Object

The word “ the man “ in this examples is functioning as the object of the adjective clause. It can be seen from the position of “ the man “ in the second sentence, that is, “ He had hired the man “.

C.     Person as the object of prepositions in the adjective clause :

He paid the man from whom he had borrowed the money

a.       He paid the man

b.      He had borrowed the money from the man.

Preposition

D.    Person as the possessive adjective in the adjective clause :

This is the girl whose picture you saw

a.       This is the girl

b.      You saw her picture

Possessive

E.     Thing as the subject of the adjective clause :

a.       Here is a book

b.      The book describes animals.

Subject

F.      Thing as the object of the adjective clause :

The chair which he broke is being repaired.

a.       The chair is being repaired

b.      He broke the chair

object

G.    Thing as the object of preposition in the adjective clause :

She was wearing the coat for which she had paid $2000

a.       She was wearing the coat

b.      She had paid for the coat $2000

Preposition

EXERCISE :
Combine the following groups of the sentences so that the second sentence in each group becomes an adjective clause.

1.      – the police finally arrested the thieves

- the thieves had participated in the great train robbery.

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2.      – the musicians arrived very late because of the storm.

- the company had hired them for the office party

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3.      – the books finally arrived

- he had written for the books

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4.      – the house is very old

- the taylors live in the house

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5.      – he picked up the toy

- his son was playing with the toy

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