Page 101 - Grammar for Great Writing B

Common Uses

7.2 Using Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses are commonly used in academic writing. They describe, define, identify, or give
additional details about nouns or pronouns. Use them:

1. to combine short Redwood trees grow mainly on the Pacific coast from Oregon to California.
sentences into one +
sentence
Redwood trees are the tallest trees in the world.
=
Redwood trees, which are the tallest trees in the world, grow mainly on
the Pacific coast from Oregon to California.
2. to add information The bark of the redwood tree contains chemicals that protect the tree
about a noun from insects.

3. to add extra The coast redwood tree, which is the same height as a 37-story
information building, is the tallest type of redwood tree.

Note
Use who, that, or which for essential information. Use which or who with nonessential information and separate the
adjective clause from the rest of the sentence with commas.

ACTIVITY 3

Underline the adjective clauses. Write E on the line if the information is essential and NE if it is
nonessential. There may be more than one adjective clause in a sentence.
1. Chlorophyll, which makes plants green, is a biomolecule that allows plants to absorb energy
from light.

2. Linguists are working with native tribes that have languages that are disappearing.
3. There are now various genealogy Web sites that help people discover family members and
ancestors of whom they have no knowledge.
4. Abraham Lincoln, who had a wife from a slave-owning family, was the U.S. president
who was responsible for making slavery illegal.

5. People who are irrationally afraid of spiders have a phobia that is called arachnophobia.
6. Genetics is the field of biology which may hold important answers to questions about
hereditary diseases and their cures.

7. Social media Web sites are particularly useful for finding old friends with whom people have
not had any contact in many years.
8. Professor Denke, who is one of the authors of our history textbook, makes the subject
interesting and important by connecting the past with the present and the future.

Common Uses 91

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