engl 112 chapter 12 supplementary notes 2015

ENGLISH 112 (Language Structures and Drills II)

Peter Lambe, Spring 2015

CHAPTER 12

Adjective Clauses

(Supplementary Notes)

Important Terms

Adjective

Adjective Phrase

Adjective Clause

Features of an Adjective Clause

Analyzing Sentences Containing Adjective Clauses

Practice Exercises

Subject Pronouns (who, which, that)

Object Pronouns (whom, which, that, Ø)

Using Ø as an Object Pronoun

Pronouns Functioning as OP (Object of a Preposition)

Relative Pronoun whose

Answer Key

Constructing Sentences with Adjective Clauses

Practice Exercises





Answer Key

THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

(The Relative Clause)

Before studying the adjective clause, it is useful to review the following terms:

Adjective

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun. This means that it describes some quality of the

noun, or indicates its quantity or extent, or specifies that the noun is distinct from something

else.

a comfortable chair

that enormous cat

difficult exercises

Notice that each adjective above (i.e. comfortable, enormous and difficult) occurs inside a

noun phrase and modifies the head noun of the phrase (i.e. chair, cat, exercises). When

adjectives occur inside noun phrases, it is also possible to stack more than one of them

together to modify the head noun. For example,

a long dangerous journey

this delicious Indian food

my small brown leather wallet

that beautiful tall green Chinese vase

All of the adjectives in the examples above are placed before the head noun they modify.

They occur inside a noun phrase. When adjectives occur in this position they are called

attributive adjectives.

Sometimes an adjective can modify a noun, but occur outside of the noun phrase (in another

part of the sentence). For example,

S Cs

The coffee was strong. (noun phrase)

S Cs

These boxes are fragile. (noun phrase)

S Cs

The children felt sick. (noun phrase)

Notice that in each of these examples, the adjective occurs outside of the subject noun phrase

(i.e. the coffee, these boxes, or the children). It forms a part of the sentence called the subject

complement (Cs). This piece comes directly after linking verbs such as be, feel, seem,

appear, etc. Linking verbs act like equal signs (=) in a sentence, linking the subject noun

phrase with the subject complement. When adjectives occupy this position, they are called

predicate adjectives.

Predicate adjectives can also modify head nouns of object noun phrases. In this case, they

occur directly after the object noun phrase. They form a piece called the object complement

(Co). For example,

O Co Khalid is wearing his hair short. (noun phrase)

O Co The waiter served the meal hot. (noun phrase)

O Co The letter made Thamir angry. (noun phrase)

Adjective Phrase

Adjectives can be expanded into adjective phrases. An adjective phrase is a group of words

that contains a head adjective plus any modifying words (e.g. adverbs such as extremely,

very, quite, really, a little, somewhat, etc.). Examples of adjective phrases include:

strong

extremely fragile

very sick

quite short

really hot

a little angry

In each adjective phrase above, the head adjective is underlined. Notice that the simplest

adjective phrase, strong, consists of only a head adjective with no modifiers. Adjective phrases

can be used in either of the predicate positions above such as subject complement (Cs) or object

complement (Co).

S Cs

These boxes are extremely fragile. (noun phrase) (adjective phrase)

O Co Khalid is wearing his hair quite short. (noun phrase) (adjective phrase)

A noun may be modified by both attributive and predicate adjectives in the same sentence.

For example,

The black Turkish coffee was very strong.

Adjective Clause

In addition to using an adjective before a noun or an adjective phrase after a noun, there is a

third way in which a noun can be modified. This involves adding a dependent clause after the

noun. This dependent clause is called an adjective clause (or relative clause). It is a dependent

clause, so it contains its own subject (S) and verb (V), but it cannot stand alone. It is called an

“adjective clause” because it does the same job as an adjective (i.e. it modifies a noun located

in the main clause). For example,

S V

Ali liked the coffee [ that he ordered in the restaurant yesterday ].

(adjective clause)

The whole adjective clause modifies the noun coffee. It tells you “which” coffee Ali liked.

Therefore, a noun can be modified in 3 ways:

1) By placing an adjective (or string of adjectives) before the noun.

the black Turkish coffee (adj) (adj)

2) By adding an adjective phrase to the sentence (in a piece separate from the

noun).

The coffee was very strong. (adjective phrase)

3) By adding an adjective clause immediately after the noun.

S V

The coffee [ that Ali ordered in the restaurant ] was very strong. (adjective clause)

Notice that all three types of modification can be used within one sentence to modify the same

noun coffee.

The black Turkish coffee [ that Ali ordered in the restaurant ] was very strong.

The methods for analyzing and constructing adjective clauses will now be outlined:

Features of an Adjective Clause

1) An adjective clause is a dependent clause. Therefore, it has its own subject (S) and verb

(V), but it cannot stand alone by itself as a complete sentence.

2) An adjective clause fulfills the same purpose as an adjective (i.e., it modifies a noun which

is located in the main clause or next higher clause). It is normally placed immediately after

the noun it modifies.

3) An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun. The relative pronouns include the

following words: who, whom, which, that, whose, where, when and Ø.

4) The relative pronoun always has a function within the adjective clause (i.e., it can function

as S, O, OP, etc. within the adjective clause).

5) Since the relative pronoun is a pronoun, it must refer back to a noun phrase in the main

clause. The noun phrase that it refers back to is called the antecedent. This antecedent

contains the head noun being modified. (Note: The antecedent also has a function within the

main clause, but this function does not have to be the same as the function of the relative

pronoun.)

6) An adjective clause can be removed from the main clause without damaging the structure of

the main clause. However, its removal may alter the meaning of the sentence.

ANALYZING SENTENCES CONTAINING ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

Practice Exercises

Analyze each sentence below using the following procedure:

Find the adjective clause and separate it by putting [square brackets] around it.

Circle the relative pronoun and identify the function of each piece inside the

adjective clause (S, V, O, etc.).

Underline the antecedent in the main clause. (The antecedent is the whole noun phrase

containing the head noun being modified.)

Identify the pieces that make up the main clause (S, V, O, etc.).

Reconstruct the adjective clause as a statement by substituting the antecedent for the relative

pronoun.

Check your work with the answer key that follows.

Example: The black Turkish coffee that Ali ordered in the restaurant was very strong.

S O S V Ap V Cs

The black Turkish coffee [ Ali ordered in the restaurant ] was very strong.

Adjective clause: that Ali ordered in the restaurant

Relative pronoun: that

Function of relative pronoun: O

Antecedent: the black Turkish coffee

Reconstructed adjective clause: Ali ordered the black Turkish coffee in the restaurant.


1. I saw the man who closed the door.

Adjective clause: ______________________________________________________

Relative pronoun: ____________

Function of relative pronoun: ________

Antecedent: ________________

Reconstructed adjective clause: ___________________________________________

2. The people that live next to me have three cars.




Antecedent: ________________


3. The tools which were lying outside our garage were getting dirty.


that



Antecedent: ________________


4. A barometer is an instrument that measures air pressure.




Antecedent: ________________



5. The children whom we watched in the park were feeding ducks in a pond.




Antecedent: ________________


6. The people that Khalid is visiting live in Olaya.




Antecedent: ________________


7. The vegetables which we bought in that store were fresh.




Antecedent: ________________


8. Waleed has read the books that he borrowed from the library.




Antecedent: ________________


Using Ø as an Object Pronoun

Object pronouns can always be removed from an adjective clause. When we analyze a

sentence from which the object relative pronoun has been removed, we usually mark

this “invisible pronoun” with the symbol Ø. Remember that this symbol Ø still has a

function (O) within the adjective clause! Ø can always be changed back to the word

that.

Example:

The children we watched in the park were feeding ducks in a pond.

S O S V Ap V O Ap

The children [ we watched in the park ] were feeding ducks in a pond.

(Ø = that)

Adjective clause: Ø we watched in the park

Relative pronoun: Ø


Antecedent: the children

Reconstructed adjective clause: We watched the children in the park.

Ø

9. I know the woman the newspaper reporter interviewed last week.




Antecedent: ________________


10. The people my brother called didn’t answer their phone.




Antecedent: ________________


11. The jeep Abumezyed drives needs a new air conditioner.




Antecedent: ________________


Summary of Relative Pronouns

(Subject and Object)

S who that (human)

which that (non-human)

O who(m) that Ø (human)

which that Ø (non-human)

Answer Key (#1 - 11)

S V O S V O

1. I saw the man [ who closed the door ].

Adjective clause: who closed the door

Relative pronoun: who

Function of relative pronoun: S

Antecedent: the man

Reconstructed adjective clause: The man closed the door.

S S V Ap V O

2. The people [ that live next to me ] have three cars.

Adjective clause: that live next to me



Antecedent: the people

Reconstructed adjective clause: The people live next to me.

S S V Ap V Cs

3. The tools [ which were lying outside our garage ] were getting dirty.

Adjective clause: which were lying outside our garage

Relative pronoun: which


Antecedent: the tools

Reconstructed adjective clause: The tools were lying outside our garage.

S V Cs S V O

4. A barometer is an instrument [ that measures air pressure ].

Adjective clause: that measures air pressure



Antecedent: an instrument

Reconstructed adjective clause: An instrument measures air pressure.

S O S V Ap V O Ap

5. The children [ whom we watched in the park ] were feeding ducks in a pond.

Adjective clause: whom we watched in the park

Relative pronoun: whom


Antecedent: the children

Reconstructed adjective clause: We watched the children in the park.

S O S V V Ap

6. The people [ that Khalid is visiting ] live in Olaya.

Adjective clause: that Khalid is visiting




Reconstructed adjective clause: Khalid is visiting the people.

S O S V Ap V Cs

7. The vegetables [ which we bought in that store ] were fresh.

Adjective clause: which we bought in that store



Antecedent: the vegetables

Reconstructed adjective clause: We bought the vegetables in that store.

S V O O S V Ap

8. Waleed has read the books [ that he borrowed from the library ].

Adjective clause: that he borrowed from the library



Antecedent: the books

Reconstructed adjective clause: He borrowed the books from the library.

S V O O S V At

9. I know the woman [ Ø the newspaper reporter interviewed last week ].

Adjective clause: Ø the newspaper reporter interviewed last week



Antecedent: the woman

Reconstructed adjective clause: The newspaper reporter interviewed the woman last week.

S O S V V O

10. The people [ Ø my brother called ] didn’t answer their phone.

Adjective clause: Ø my brother called




Reconstructed adjective clause: My brother called the people.

S O S V V O

11. The jeep [ Ø Abumezyed drives ] needs a new air conditioner.

Adjective clause: Ø Abumezyed drives



Antecedent: the jeep

Reconstructed adjective clause: Abumezyed drives the jeep.


Sometimes the relative pronoun can be preceded by a preposition. The complete prepositional

phrase is actually an adverbial (A) which contains a preposition (P) and an object of a preposition

(OP) inside it.

The man [ to whom I talked ] was helpful.

The chair [ in which I am sitting ] is hard.

Ibrahim likes the students [ with whom he is studying ].

Organic chemistry is a subject [ with which Mohammed is familiar ].

We can analyze these types of sentences as follows:

Example: The man to whom I talked was helpful.

A

S P OP S V V Cs

The man [ to I talked ] was helpful.

Adjective clause: to whom I talked

Relative pronoun: whom

Function of relative pronoun: OP

Antecedent: the man

Reconstructed adjective clause: I talked to the man.

Example: The chair in which I am sitting is hard.

A

S P OP S V V Cs

The chair [ in I am sitting ] is hard.

Adjective clause: in which I am sitting



Antecedent: the chair

Reconstructed adjective clause: I am sitting in the chair.

whom

which

These types of structures occur in very formal English. In everyday informal English, we often prefer

to break up the adverbial so that the preposition occurs at the end of the adjective clause. When we

do this, we have the choice of keeping the original pronoun (whom or which) or replacing it with

that or Ø. (Notice that Ø can be used for an OP as well as for an O.) So when an adjective clause

contains an OP pronoun, the adjective clause can be written in four (4) ways:

Example: The man to whom I talked was helpful.

The man [ to whom I talked ] was helpful. (formal)

The man [ whom I talked to ] was helpful.

The man [ that I talked to ] was helpful.

The man [ Ø I talked to ] was helpful.

Example: The chair in which I am sitting is hard.

The chair [ in which I am sitting ] is hard. (formal)

The chair [ which I am sitting in ] is hard.

The chair [ that I am sitting in ] is hard.

The chair [ Ø I am sitting in ] is hard.

Analyze the sentences below using the same procedure as before. Some of these sentences are

formal and some are informal. Check your work with the answer key that follows.

12. The man that I told you about is over there.




Antecedent: ________________


13. The picture at which Talal is looking is beautiful.




Antecedent: ________________


14. The person Suhaib was waiting for didn’t come. (Hint: This sentence contains Ø.)




Antecedent: ________________


15. The plane which I was traveling on made an emergency landing.




Antecedent: ________________


Relative Pronouns Functioning as OP

(Object of a Preposition)

OP *to whom . . .

whom . . . to (human)

that . . . to

Ø . . . to

OP *to which . . .

which . . . to (non-human)

that . . . to

Ø . . . to

(* Any preposition can be used in place of to.)


S OP S V O P V Ap P OP

12. The man [ that I told you about ] is over there. (A = about that)

Adjective clause: that I told you about



Antecedent: the man

Reconstructed adjective clause: I told you about the man.

S P OP S V V Cs P OP

13. The picture [ at which Talal is looking ] is beautiful. (A = at which)

Adjective clause: at which Talal is looking



Antecedent: the picture

Reconstructed adjective clause: Talal is looking at the picture.

S OP S V P V P OP

14. The person [ Ø Suhaib was waiting for ] didn’t come. (A = for Ø)

Adjective clause: Ø Suhaib was waiting for



Antecedent: the person

Reconstructed adjective clause: Suhaib was waiting for the person.

S OP S V P V O P OP

15. The plane [ which I was traveling on ] made an emergency landing. (A = on which)

Adjective clause: which I was traveling on



Antecedent: the plane

Reconstructed adjective clause: I was traveling on the plane.


The relative pronoun whose shows possession. It is very different from the other relative pronouns

because it must be attached to a head noun (i.e. it occurs inside of a larger noun phrase). This whole

noun phrase has a function inside the adjective clause, not just whose by itself.

Example:

S O S V V A

The instructor [ course I am taking ] is from Canada.

(noun phrase)

Adjective clause: whose course I am taking

Relative pronoun: whose

Function of noun phrase containing relative pronoun: O

Antecedent: the instructor

Reconstructed adjective clause: I am taking the instructor’s course.

(add ’ s to the antecedent)

Analyze the following sentences, which all contain adjective clauses with whose. Check your

work with the answer key that follows.

16. The man whose wife speaks four languages is a journalist.


Relative pronoun: ______________

Function of noun phrase containing relative pronoun ________

Antecedent: _____________________________



17. The woman whose cat died was sad.



whose


Antecedent: _____________________________



18. I have a friend whose brother is a police officer.




Antecedent: _____________________________



Notes

(1) The relative pronoun whose is normally used with humans. However, it can also be used

with animals or objects.

I bought an antique table whose leg was broken.

Abumezyed has a jeep whose air conditioner rarely works.

Nora found a cat whose eyes were different colors.

(2) Don’t confuse who’s with the relative pronoun whose. Who’s is a contraction for who is

or who has.

Who’s sitting in that desk? (Who’s = Who is)

Who’s written this composition? It’s excellent! (Who’s = Who has)


S S V O V Cs

16. The man [ whose wife speaks four languages ] is a journalist.

Adjective clause: whose wife speaks four languages


Function of noun phrase containing relative pronoun: S

Antecedent: the man

Reconstructed adjective clause: The man’s wife speaks four languages.

S S V V Cs

17. The woman [ whose cat died ] was sad.

Adjective clause: whose cat died



Antecedent: the woman

Reconstructed adjective clause: The woman’s cat died.

S V O S V Cs

18. I have a friend [ whose brother is a police officer ].

Adjective clause: whose brother is a police officer



Antecedent: a friend

Reconstructed adjective clause: A friend’s brother is a police officer.

CONSTRUCTING SENTENCES WITH ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

In the previous section, we practiced analyzing and taking apart complex sentences which

contained a main clause and an adjective clause. We ended up with two separate sentences – the

original main clause and a reconstructed adjective clause.

In this section, we will practice the opposite procedure. We will start with two separate sentences

and use the first sentence as a main clause, and convert the second sentence back into an

adjective clause.

Practice Exercises

Construct a complex sentence with a main clause and an adjective clause using the following

procedure:

Read the two separate sentences. The second sentence will provide further information

about some noun phrase in the first sentence.

Find the noun phrase being modified in the first sentence. Use the first sentence as a

main clause.

Open up the main clause and build an adjective clause immediately after the noun phrase

being modified. (This noun phrase will become the antecedent.)

Choose an appropriate relative pronoun (there may be several choices) to begin the

adjective clause. Insert the second sentence into this adjective clause space. Remember

that the relative pronoun will replace one part of the original sentence.

Check your work with the answer key that follows.

Example: (a) The bus is sometimes late.

(b) I take it to school every morning.

The second sentence gives further information about the bus.

Open up the first sentence and form an adjective clause inside it.

The bus [ ] is sometimes late.

The bus [ which I take to school every morning ] is sometimes late.

“ [ that I take to school every morning ] “

“ [ Ø I take to school every morning ] “

In the following exercises, combine the two sentences in each pair. Use “b” as an adjective

clause. Give all the possible forms of the adjective clauses.


1. a) The woman was very nice.

b) She sat next to me on the plane.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

2. a) Steam is a gas.

b) It forms when water boils.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

3. a) The sandstorm is very powerful.

b) It is moving toward us.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

4. a) Do you know the mechanic?

b) He works in that garage.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________


5. a) The flight was on time.

b) I took the flight to Singapore.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

6. a) The woman thanked me.

b) I helped her.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

7. a) I found an interesting article in the magazine.

b) I bought the magazine yesterday.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

8. a) I liked the people.

b) I visited them last weekend.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

Pronouns Functioning as OP

9. a) The bus was an hour late.

b) We were waiting for it.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

10. a) The man became very angry.

b) Mona was arguing with him.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

11. a) I enjoyed meeting the people.

b) You introduced me to them.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

12. a) The topic was interesting.

b) Omar talked about it.

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________


13. a) The family is staying in a hotel.

b) Their house burned down.

____________________________________________________________

14. a) Sultan is the student.

b) I borrowed his laptop computer.

____________________________________________________________

15. a) The reporter won an award.

b) Her articles explained global warming.

____________________________________________________________

16. a) A weed is a plant.

b) Its value hasn’t been discovered yet.

____________________________________________________________

17. a) Faisal is the student.

b) His car ran out of gas on the highway.

____________________________________________________________

Answer Key (#1 – 17)


1. The woman [ who sat next to me on the plane ] was very nice.

that sat next to me on the plane

2. Steam is a gas [ which forms when water boils ].

that forms when water boils

3. The sandstorm [ which is moving toward us ] is very powerful.

that is moving toward us

4. Do you know the mechanic [ who works in that garage ]?

that works in that garage


5. The flight [ which I took to Singapore ] was on time.

that I took to Singapore

Ø I took to Singapore

6. The woman [ whom I helped ] thanked me.

that I helped

Ø I helped

7. I found an interesting article in the magazine [ which I bought yesterday ].

that I bought yesterday

Ø I bought yesterday

8. I liked the people [ whom I visited last weekend ].

that I visited last weekend

Ø I visited last weekend

Object of a Preposition (OP)

9. The bus [ for which we were waiting ] was an hour late.

which we were waiting for

that we were waiting for

Ø we were waiting for

10. The man [ with whom Mona was arguing ] became very angry.

whom Mona was arguing with

that Mona was arguing with

Ø Mona was arguing with

11. I enjoyed meeting the people [ to whom you introduced me ].

whom you introduced me to

that you introduced me to

Ø you introduced me to

12. The topic [ about which Omar talked ] was interesting.

which Omar talked about

that Omar talked about

Ø Omar talked about


13. The family [ whose house burned down ] is staying in a hotel.

14. Sultan is the student [ whose laptop computer I borrowed ].

15. The reporter [ whose articles explained global warming ] won an award.

16. A weed is a plant [ whose value hasn’t been discovered yet ].

17. Faisal is the student [ whose car ran out of gas on the highway ].

_________________________

Peter Lambe Spring 2015

engl 112 chapter 12 supplementary notes 2015

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