Page 65 - Basic English Grammar Student Textbook short

Study Section 13: Advanced Sentence Structure

13.1 Connect

I’m sure you have heard of Santa Claus. Today we are going to learn about an adjective clause
(notice they are spelled differently). They are pretty easy to pick out because most of them use the
words, “who, whom, which and that” and they are called “relatives.” So, look for a “relative,” and
you will probably find an adjective clause. It’s a group of words called a clause that modify or help
us understand more about a noun or pronoun. Ready to learn?

13.2 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

An adjective clause is a dependent (subordinate) clause that modifies a noun or a pronoun.
Adjective clauses are introduced by words called relatives.
Relative pronouns: Who, whom, which, and that
Relative adjective: whose

A relative serves two purposes: 1) it introduces the clause, and 2) it serves a grammatical function within the
clause.
Examples:
1. She is the one who will help us. (Who is the subject of will help.)
2. He is the boy to whom the scholarship was granted. (Whom is the object of the preposition to.)
3. A Christian is a person whose conduct should be above reproach. (Whose modifies the noun conduct.)
4. There is the painting that I really want. (That is the direct object of want.)

Practice 13A: Finding adjective clauses. Underline the adjective clause in these sentences

1. The person who is elected to this office will represent our class at the council
meeting.
2. Mr. Smith is the businessman with whom we made the agreement.
3. Our dog, which escaped last month, returned home last night.
4. Jackson is the American president whom we studied today.
5. Students who won scholarships will have their photograph taken this afternoon.
6. The Bible, which was written by forty authors, is the Word of God.
7. A mummy, which was recently discovered, is on display in the museum.

Practice 13B: Combining sentences. Using an adjective clause, combine each pair of sentences into one
sentence.

1. T ha t b ui l di ng i s b e i n g t o r n d o w n . I t h a s be e n c o nde m ne d.

Example: T h a t b u i l d i n g , w h i c h h a s b e e n c o n d e m n e d , i s b e i n g t o r n d o w n .
2. M at t w as o n t h e c o u n t ry ’ s O l y m p ic s o c c e r t e am . H e o ft e n s c o re d g o al s .

3. Jo hn is m y fr ie n d . J o h n i s t h e b e s t s t u d e n t i n t h i s c la s s .

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