Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses

ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
 Who  The lady who
 Refers to people, teaches in Political
 dependent clauses that must be joined to used as subject in Science department
independent clauses the clause is my mentor.
 describe nouns and pronouns (Relative pronoun as
 often placed in a sentence right after the the subject of the
noun they describe clause)
 add details to sentences by functioning as
adjectives 4

ADJECTIVES
An adjectives modifies a noun. “Modify” means to change a little. An
adjective describes or gives information about the noun.
Adjective usually comes in front of a noun.
(a) I met a kind man Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses
adjective +noun
 Whom  Sally, who(m) he knew,
(b) I met a famous man
arrived yesterday.
 Refers to people, used
ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
(Relative pronoun as the
as object or object of object of the clause)
An adjective clause* modifies a noun. It describes or gives information
about a noun. preposition
An adjective clause follow a noun  The student of whom he
© I met a man who is kind to everybody.
(Formal grammar spoke was a foreigner.
(d) I met a man who is a famous poet.
recommends whom, (Relative pronoun as the
(e) I met a man who lives in Chicago.
object of a preposition)
noun + adjective clause not who, in the object
position)
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Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses

 Which or that  The watch which Ken bought
ADJECTIVE (RELATIVE) CLAUSES  Refers to things, animals was expensive.

 Adjective clauses begin with one of the

 The ring that Jamie wears is
relative pronouns such as who, whom, from her husband.
whose, where , that, which,
 Also called relative clauses.  The lion that escaped last
night was captured.
(Note: the sentence using which
is more formal than the one
with that)
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Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses
 Whose  The father whose child  Why  I don’t know why he
 Refers to is missing is frantic!
 Refers to reason winked.
possession/ownership
 It can be omitted  I don’t know the
reason why he
winked.
 The company whose  I don’t know the
manager has resigned is reason he winked.
in dire straits.

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
Adjective Clauses:
Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses Restrictive & Non-restrictive Clauses
 When  I will never forget the day Restrictive Clauses Non-restrictive
 Refers to a time (in + when I graduated. Clauses
year, in + month, on +  I will never forget the day are necessary for are interesting with extra
day,...). on which I graduated. identification—tell exactly information -but don’t
 It cannot be a subject.  I will never forget the which thing or person identify or tell “which one”
 It can be omitted day that I graduated.
DO NOT have commas ALWAYS have commas
 I will never forget the
around clause around clause
day I graduated.
Also known as identifying or Also known as non-
defining clauses identifying or non-defining
clauses
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Relative Pronouns & Relative Clauses Restrictive Adjective/Relative Clauses

 Where  The house where he Examples:
 Refers to a place (in stays is old .
 The house in which he
 The soccer player who scored the goal
+ country, in + city, at
+ school,...). stays is old. is from Liverpool.
 The house which he
 It cannot be a subject. stays in is old.  The girl that borrows my book
 It can be omitted but  The house that he stays is my cousin.
a preposition (at, in, in is old.
to) usually must be  The district where I live is near the
 The house he stays in is
added. old. post office.

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Non- Restrictive Adjective/Relative Clauses
Examples:
 Ms. Tan, who is my English tutor, went to Korea last
winter.
 My dog, which is barking, is in the backyard.
 William decided to reject the offer, which upset his
manager.
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Compare Restrictive & Non-restrictive
Clauses
1. My brother who lives in Bukit Timah is an accountant.
 This sentence suggests that I have more than
one brother. “Who lives in Bukit Timah” identifies
this brother, not the one who lives in Clementi.
2. My brother, who lives in Bukit Timah, is an accountant.
 This sentence suggests that I only have one brother,
“who lives in Bukit Timah”.
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Which is logically correct?
1. My father, who is a taxi driver, doesn’t like to exercise.
2. My father who is a taxi driver doesn’t like to exercise.
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Answer
1. My father, who is a taxi driver, doesn’t like to exercise.
(Correct!)
2. My father who is a taxi driver doesn’t like to exercise.
(This suggests you have more than one father!)
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Which is logically correct?
 Situation: You have 3 sisters and you have already
made that clear in preceding sentences. One is a
doctor, one an air stewardess, and one a model.
1. My sister who is a doctor is not married.
2. My sister, who is a doctor, is not married.
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Answer
1. My sister who is a doctor is not married.
(Correct! This tells which sister , so it’s identifying.)
2. My sister, who is a doctor, is not married.
(Identifying information should not have commas
around it.)
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Which is correct? Answer
1. Paul Smith who is an excellent researcher is from 1. The wind, that is howling, is making me nervous.
England. (Never use commas with a “that” clause.)

2. Paul Smith, who is an excellent researcher , is from 2. The wind, which is howling, is making me nervous.
England. (Correct!)

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Answer
1. Paul Smith who is an excellent researcher is from
England.
(Note that proper nouns are considered already
identified, so the adjective clause needs commas.)

2. Paul Smith, who is an excellent researcher , is from

England. (Correct!)

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Which is correct?
1. The wind, that is howling, is making me nervous.

2. The wind, which is howling, is making me nervous.

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