13 Adjective Clauses with Subject Relative Pronouns

UNIT

Famous Faces
and Places
 History 101

She’s
She Iaknow.
scientist
Oh,discovered whose
She’s
the element
a womanOkay,
of let’s start studying for our
discoveries
who
radium,
Wow.
history GoodI’ll
exam. answers.
ask a Okay, next
question, and
have
wongreatly
which isaffected
the Nobel
used in the
Prize in medical
X-rays.
1903. What did she discover?
question.
Who
you tell meWho
isthe was
Marie Gandhi?
Curie?
answer.
field.
 Adjective Clauses 1

Use adjective clauses to identify or give additional information

about nouns (people, places, or things).

GandhiHe lived
was in the
a man whostate of Gujarat,
worked for peace.
which is in Western India.

The clause The

which is in who worked for
clause
Western India
peacegives
identifies the man we
additional information
are talking about.
about Gujarat.
 Adjective Clauses 2

Adjective clauses can also identify or describe indefinite pronouns

such as one, someone, somebody, something, another, and other(s).

someonewho
George Washington Carver is someone
was a famous botanist.

The adjective clause directly

follows the noun (or pronoun) it
is identifying.
 Adjective Clause 3

Sentences with adjective clauses can be seen as a

combination of two sentences.

Florence Nightingale was a nurse.

Beethoven was a composer.
+ +
She developed
His music is still enjoyed modern healthcare methods.
by many people.

= =
Beethoven was a composer
Florence
whose
Nightingale
music is was a nurse who
still enjoyed by developed
many people.
modern healthcare methods.
 Relative Pronouns 1

Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns. Subject relative

pronouns can be who, that, which, and whose.

Use whoseAbraham
The
to Mona
refer to Lincoln
Lisa iswas
people’s a painting
an American
which is
possessions.
possessions
president
known throughout
who
whofoughtthe against
world.
worldslavery.
slavery

OR
Thomas Edison, whoseinventions
Edison whose inventions
changed the world, Abraham
The Mona Lincoln
Lisa iswas
a painting
an American
that is
world was born in 1847.
president thatfoughtthe
known throughout
that against
world.
worldslavery.
slavery

That
Use is which
Use
who less
or formal
that
or to than
that who to
to refer
and which
refer and used
toplaces
people.
people more in
or things.
conversation.
 Be Careful!

Do not use a subject pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) and a
subject relative pronoun in the same adjective clause.

William Shakespeare is an Englishman who

he wrote many well-known plays.

William Shakespeare is an Englishman who

wrote many well-known plays.
 Combine the groups of sentences into one
Practice 1 sentence with an adjective clause. Use
the appropriate relative pronouns.

Example: a) Albert
Example: AlbertEinstein was
Einstein a physicist.
was a physicist who/that won
thewon
b) He Nobel
thePrize
Nobelin Prize
Physics in 1921. in 1921.
in Physics

1.Ang
a) Ang San Su Kyi is a Burmese
San Su Kyi is aAlbert
Burmese
peace
peace
activist
activist in
in Myanmar.
Myanmar
Einstein was a physicist who won the
which is a country
b) Myanmar located
is a country in Southeast
located
Nobel Prize Asia.
Asia
in Southeast
in Physics Asia.
in 1921.
1921

2.Diego
a) Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter. OR
Rivera was a Mexican painter whose work is displayed
inb)many famous Albert Einstein was a physicist that won the
museums.
museums
His work is displayed in many famous museums.
Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
1921
3.Mother
a) Mother Teresa
Teresa waswas a Catholic
a Catholic nun.
nun who/that devoted her life
tob)the
Shepoor.
poor
devoted her life to the poor.
 Relative Pronouns 2

Relative pronouns have the same form whether they refer to

singular or plural nouns, or to males or females.

Ferdinand Magellan was the

man who led the first expedition
to sail around the world.

Amelia Earhart was the woman

who was the first female pilot to fly
across the Atlantic.

Pioneers are people who do things

others think impossible.
 Verbs in Adjective Clauses
The verb in the adjective clause is singular if the subject relative
pronoun refers to a singular noun. It is plural if it refers to a plural
noun.
singular verb

Copernicus was an astronomer who is known fo

his theory that the world is round.

Plato and Aristotle are ancient Greek

men who are known for philosophies.

plural verb
 Be Careful!

When whose + noun is the subject of an adjective clause, the verb

agrees with the subject of the adjective clause.

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose

novels is read by many students.

Jane Austen was an English novelist whose

novels are read by many students.

subject
 Two Kinds of Adjective Clauses

There are two kinds of adjective clauses,

identifying and nonidentifying.

The adjective clause identifies The adjective clause is not

The books which are on the
which books the sentence
The books, which are on
necessary to identify which
table belong to me.
talks about. the books
table,are
belong to me.
referred to.
 Commas
A nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the
sentence by commas. Do not use commas with an identifying
adjective clause.

The map, which

Nonidentifying is on
Adjective The map which is on the
Identifying
the table, is new.
Clause tableAdjective
is new. Clause
 Be Careful!

Do not use that to introduce nonidentifying adjective clauses.

clauses
Use who for people and which for places and things.

Athens, that is the birthplace

Marie Curie, that won the Nobel Prize,
of the Olympics, is in
discovered
Greece. radium.

Athens, which is theMarie

birthplace
Curie, who won the Nobel Prize,
of the Olympics, is in Greece. radium.
discovered
 Find and correct the errors in the

Practice 2 adjective clauses of the sentences.

Discuss your answers with a partner.

Example: Italy, which

that is is
the birthplace
the ofof
birthplace opera,
operais is
opera,
opera aa
fascinating country.
1. Louis Armstrong was a famous American musician who he
made jazz popular.
popular
2. Frida Kahlo, whose paintings have recentlybecome
has recently becomewell-
well-
known,
known was a Mexican painter.
livesininSouth
3. Nelson Mandela, who live SouthAfrica,
Africa, foughtagainst
Africafought
Africa against
apartheid.
4. Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian author who writes
which novels
writes novels
about village life.
life
5. Valentina Tereshkova,who was the first woman to travel
into space, is Russian.