Adjective Clause

ADJECTIVE
CLAUSE
PREPARED BY: MOHAMMAD MASOOM RAHIMI
• It is a type of dependent clause with descriptive function which modifies,
identifies or gives further information about noun or pronoun in the
main clause.
• Or an adjective clause a group of related words which has subject and

verb and functions the same as an adjective in a sentence.
Ex: The boy who comes late to class is my friend.
Ex: The road where we drive is so alluring.
Antecedent: It is the noun or pronoun that is followed by the adjective
clause.
MARKERS OF THE ADJECTIVE
CLAUSE
• There are three markers for the Adjective Clause :

• Relative Pronouns( who, which, that, whom)
• Relative Adverb( Where , When)
• Relative Adjective(Whose)
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
• Who : it is used for people.
• Which: it is used for things.
• Whom : it is used for people in objective case.
• That: it is used for people, things, and animals.
EXAMPLES FOR RELATIVE PRONOUNS
•The girl who looks at me is your classmate.

•The laptop which I use is brand and new.
•The person whom we talked about is secretive.
•The doctor that treats patients well is Sana.
RELATIVE ADVERBS
•Where : It is used for location.
Ex: London is the place where I plan to go .
•When: It is used for time.
Ex: 2002 is the year when I was born.
RELATIVE ADJECTIVES
•Whose : It shows ownership and is directly

followed by a noun in adjective clause.
Ex: The baby whose mother is outside is crying.
Ex: Ali is the guy whose car was stolen.
MODIFYING A NOUN OR PRONOUN
• The adjective clause can be used in embedded and unembedded way.

Note: If the subject is the antecedent then it is called the embedded way of the
adjective clause but if the object is the antecedent then it is called the
unembedded way of the adjective clause.
Ex: The student who got first position is from Afghanistan. ( Embedded )
Ex: The building which they bought is expensive. ( Embedded)
Ex: He drives a car that is made in Japan. ( Unembedded)
Ex: The car that he drives is made in Japan. ( Embedded)
MODIFYING A NOUN OR PRONOUN
• An adjective clause is sometimes used to modify

pronouns and an adjective clause modifies two kinds of
pronouns which are:
• Subject/ Object Pronouns
• Indefinite Pronouns
• An adjective clause modifies subject pronoun in cleft sentences.
Structure: It + is / was + subject pronoun + adjective clause
Ex: It is he who helped them.

Ex: This was I who got the first prize.
Note: an adjective clause informally modifies object pronouns.
Ex: It is me who loved her.
Ex: It was him who killed the snake.
Note: Except cleft sentence an adjective clause modifies
indefinite pronouns.
Ex: Sana loves someone who has green eyes.
Ex: Anyone who comes late to the class will not be allowed.
CASES OF RELATIVE PRONOUN
• Adjective Clause has got three kinds:
1)Subjective / Nominative Case:
• In this case the relative pronouns are used as the subject of the verb in
the adjective clause.
• Structure: Relative pronoun (who, which, that) + verb + comp+.
Ex: The country which is located in the heart of Asia is Afghanistan.
Ex: The teacher who teaches L5 class at 8:00 pm is Rahimi.
2)Objective / Accusative Case:
• In this case the relative pronouns are used as the object of the verb in the
adjective clause.
• Structure: Relative pronoun (who, which, that, whom) + subject + verb
+ comp+.
Ex: The teacher whom the students like the most is Tamim.
Ex: The girl who he loves is Sina.
Ex: The car which they bought is new.
3)Object of Preposition / Dative Case:
• In this case the relative pronouns are used after the preposition in order to function as the
object of preposition in the adjective clause.
• Structure: Preposition+ Relative pronoun (which and whom) + subject + verb +
comp
• Structure: Relative pronoun+ subject + verb + preposition + comp
Ex: The boy about whom I was telling you is standing over there.
Ex: The boy whom I was telling you about is standing over there.
Ex: The restaurant to which we went last night was awful.
Ex: The restaurant which we went to last night was awful.
• Using Adjective Clause to Modify Pronoun
• An adjective clause is sometimes used to modify pronouns and an adjective
clause modifies two kinds of pronouns which are:
• Subject Pronouns
• Indefinite Pronouns
• An adjective clause modifies subject pronoun in cleft sentences.
• Structure: It + is / was + subject pronoun + adjective clause
Ex: It is he who helped them.
Ex: This was I who got the first prize.
Ex: It is him who came late.
• Note: an adjective clause informally modifies object
pronouns.
Ex: It is me who loved her.
Ex: It was him who killed the snake.
• Except cleft sentence an adjective clause modifies indefinite

pronouns.
Ex: Sana loves someone who has green eyes.
Ex: Anyone who comes late to the class will not be allowed.
Kinds of Adjective Clause
•Restrictive Adjective Clause

•Non-restrictive Adjective Clause
• Restrictive Adjective Clause:
• It is a type of an adjective clause which is used to give necessary, essential or important
information about the noun or pronoun in the main clause.
• Restrictive adjective clause is also called “modifying, defining, descriptive, essential and
identifying” adjective clause.
Key Points:
• Identifying adjective clause modifies the antecedent.
• Commas are not used in identifying adjective clause.
• The antecedents are usually common noun in identifying adjective clause.
• Identifying adjective clause is common in spoken English.
Ex: The book which is on the table is written by Mr. Smith.
Ex: The player who made the fastest ODI century is African.
Ex: The woman whom he visited last night was his mother.
Ex: The car that he drives is lost now.
Ex: The boys who wanted to play went to the ground.
Ex: The book which is on the table is Ali’s.
Non-restrictive Adjective Clause
• It is a type of an adjective clause which gives extra or additional information about the noun
or pronoun in the main clause.
• Non-restrictive adjective clause is also called “non-modifying, non-defining, non-descriptive,
non-essential and non-identifying” adjective clause.
• Key points
• Non-identifying adjective clause does not identify the antecedent but it gives extra information
about the antecedent in the main clause.
• Commas are used in non-identifying adjective clause.
• The antecedents are usually proper nouns in non-identifying adjective clause.
• Non-identifying adjective clause is common in written English.
Ex: Ali, who loves Sana, is my classmate.
Ex: Kabul, which is the capital city of Afghanistan, is full of snow these
days.
Ex: Ashraf Ghani, who is the president of Afghanistan, will visit India next
week.
Ex: The Team’s boys , who wanted to play, went to the ground.
Ex: Level Five book, which is on the table, is Ali’s .
Reduction of Adjective Clause to Adjective Phrase
• Reduction means to make short or brief.

• An adjective clause can be changed or reduced into an
adjective phrase under one condition and that is the adjective
clause must be used in subjective case.
• An adjective phrase is also called reduced adjective phrase.
How to change or reduce an adjective clause into an adjective
phrase?
• Use the following steps while changing or reducing an adjective clause to an
adjective phrase.
• Delete relative pronoun.
• Delete “to be verb” if there is any.
• Change the active main verb into “ing” form.
• No change will occur in passive main verb.
• Use (having + verb.3) for perfective tenses.
• Use past participle for Be verbs used in state.
Ex: The boy who sells potatoes is my friend.
Ex: The boy selling potatoes is my friend.
Ex: The teacher who is teaching L.3 in that room is Ali.
Ex: The teacher teaching L.3 in that room is Ali.
Ex: The student who has gotten the first position is very happy.
Ex: The student having gotten the first position is very happy.
Ex: The students who were arrested by police come back to class.
Ex: The students arrested by police come back to class.
Ex: The player who played well yesterday was Rashid Khan.
Ex: The player playing well yesterday was Rashid Khan.
Ex: The country which is located in the heart of Asia is Afghanistan.
Ex: The country located in the heart of Asia is Afghanistan.

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ADJECTIVE

• Or an adjective clause a group of related words which has subject and

• There are three markers for the Adjective Clause :

•The girl who looks at me is your classmate.

•Whose : It shows ownership and is directly

• The adjective clause can be used in embedded and unembedded way.

• An adjective clause is sometimes used to modify

Ex: It is he who helped them.

• Except cleft sentence an adjective clause modifies indefinite

•Restrictive Adjective Clause

• Reduction means to make short or brief.

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