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Adjective Clauses THEORY KE 2
Adjective Clauses THEORY KE 2
Adjective Clauses THEORY KE 2
Adjective clauses (or relative clauses) are a type of subordinate clause that act as adjectives.
Quick Refresher
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This clause is an adjective clause. It is a group of words with a subject and a verb, and it is
acting as one part of speech - an adjective.
The person who made the mess needs to clean it. (modifying person)
The book which I had not read fell on my head. (modifying book)
Relative pronouns link the clause with the word that the clause is modifying.
Did you notice that the noun that comes directly before the clause is the noun that the clause
is modifying?
The cool thing about relative pronouns is that they also act as the subject, object, or some
kind of modifier within the adjective clause.
The independent clause is This is the house. The relative clause is that Jack built. Notice that
both clauses have a subject and a verb.
That is introducing the relative clause. It is linking the word house with the whole clause.
Look at the sentence diagram, and it will help you see what I mean.
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You'll find more information and sentence
diagrams on the relative pronouns page.
No Relative Pronoun?
Sometimes the relative pronoun is missing from the relative clause.
Don't fret!
You can still have an adjective clause without the relative pronoun.
Can you think of how you could express that same idea without the relative pronoun?
Now the adjective clause is just the words I love, but the word that is implied. It's as if the
sentence says:
The technical name for a missing relative pronoun is an elliptical relative pronoun.
If you want to diagram the sentence, diagram the implied relative pronoun in parenthesis.
Relative Adverbs
While most of the time relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns, sometimes they
are introduced by relative adverbs (where, when, why).
Here are some examples. Notice that the clause is still modifying a noun.
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Tuesday is the day when we have pizza for dinner.
SOURCE:
http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/adjective-clauses.html
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