Adjective Clause

Adjective clause is a dependent clause used as an adjective. It modifies a noun or pronoun in the same way as adjective by telling "which one?" or "what kind of?".

Look at these examples.

  •  It is an interesting book. ("interesting" modifies "book")
  •  It is the book which is interesting. (The adjective clause "which is interesting" also modifies "book")

  •  He is a genius man. ("genius" modifies "man")
  •  He is a man who is genius. (The adjective clause "who is genius" also modifies "man")

  •  He was a skillful manager. ("skillful" modifies "manager")
  •  He was a manager who is skillful.  (The adjective clause "who is skillful" also modifies "manager")

The adjective clause begins with relative pronouns, relative possessive adjective, and relative adverbs.

Relative pronouns: who, whom, which, that

WHO replaces noun or pronoun referring to people in subject position. For examples,

  •  I met a man. + He runs a successful business.
  → I met a man who runs a successful business.

WHOM  replaces noun or pronoun referring to people in object position. For examples,

  •  Thida is my classmate. + You talked to her this morning.
  → Thida, whom you talked to this morning, is my classmate.

WHICH  replaces noun or pronoun referring to animals and things. For examples,

  •  The product looked excellent. Many were interested in it.
  → The product which many were interested in looked excellent.

THAT  replaces noun or pronoun referring to people, animals or things. For examples,

  •  There was a problem with a freeware. + We have already removed it.
  → There was a problem with a freeware which we have already removed it.

Relative possessive adjectives: whose

- WHOSE  replaces possessive forms of nouns and pronouns. It can refer to people, animals or things. For examples,

  •  The man is happy. + I found the man’s wallet.
  → The man whose wallet I found is happy.
  • The girl is employed. + Her study performance was good.
  → The girl whose study performance was good is employed.

Relative adverbs: when, where, why. For examples,

WHEN replaces a noun or pronoun referring to a time. It replaces a time (in + year, in + month, on + day,...). It cannot be a subject. For examples,

  •  I will never forget the day. + I graduated on that day.
  → I will never forget the day when I graduated.

WHERE replaces a noun or pronoun referring to a place. It replaces a place (in which + location). For examples,

  •  That was the hotel. + I stayed there.
  → That was the hotel where I stayed.

WHY replaces noun or pronoun referring to a reason or motive. It  replaces reason (in which + reason). For examples,

  •  Money is the problem. She decides to apply for loan because of it.
  → Money is the problem why she decides to apply for loan.

Note: These relative pronouns can be omitted when they are objects of verbs. When they are objects of prepositions, they can be omitted when they do not follow the preposition. But they can’t be deleted in non-defining clause.


RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

The fact that an adjective clause defines or just adds information classifies the adjective clause into two groups:

Restrictive or defining clause

Defining clause modify or describe the noun. The meaning of the noun might not be unclear without the adjective clause. There are no comma(s) needed. For examples,

  •  Have you still got the book which I gave you?
  •  I have a neighbor who comes from France.

Non-restrictive or non-defining clause

Non-defining clause just add extra information to the noun. The noun is understood. modify or describe the noun. Comma(s) are needed. For examples,

  •  Samnang, who is our class monitor, received an award.
  •  The grammar course, which we enrolled in, is beneficial for our writing.


USES AND FUNCTIONS

Adjective clause is used to modify noun or pronoun.

Modifying a noun

For examples,
  •  The children who are on the bus are going to visit the museum.
  •  The car that she is driving is not hers.
  •  Some firefighters never meet the people whom they save.
  •  Did I tell you about the author whom I met?

Modifying a pronoun

For examples,
  •  They are searching for the one who borrowed the book.
  •  Is there someone who can help me?
  •  I want to meet anybody who is generous.
  •  Do you know anywhere which I can buy a laptop battery.


JOINING SENTENCES USING ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

A sentence that contains one adjective clause and one independent clause is the result of combining two clauses that contain a repeated noun. You can combine two independent clauses to make one sentence containing an adjective clause by following these steps:

Step 1. Find the repeated noun (or pronoun, or noun and pronoun which refer to the same thing).

Look at these examples:
  •  The book is on the table. + I like the book. ("the book" is repeated.)
  •  The man is here. + The man wants the book. ("the man" is repeated.)

Step 2. Replace the repeated noun with a relative pronoun (in the clause that you want to make it dependent).

  •  The book is on the table. + I like which. (Replace "the book" with "which".)
  •  The man is here. + who wants the book. (Replace "the man" with "who".)

Step 3. Move the relative pronoun to the front of the clause, adjective clause, if it is not already there.

The clause is now an adjective clause.

  •  The book is on the table. + which I like. (Move "which" to the front.)
  •  The man is here. + who wants the book. ("who" is in front, so there is no need to move.)

Step 4. Place the adjective clause  immediately after the noun phrase it modifies (the repeated noun).

  •  The book which I like is on the table. (Place "which I like" next to the noun "the book" in the first clause.) 
  •  The man who wants the book is here. (Place "who wants the book" next to the noun "the man" in the first clause.)