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Adjective clauses
- Leaving out the relative pronoun
- Adjective clause: where, when, why
- Adjective clause: whose, who, whom
- Adjective clause: which, that
- Identify a missing objective relative pronoun
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 1
Maria English Society
(Version 1.0 2007)
Unit 10
Adjective clauses
Leaving out the relative pronoun
You will meet a lot of adjective clauses (adjective clauses) without a relative pronoun.
For
example, instead of
O
S V
Tell us about the people that you saw and the food that you ate.
you will hear or read:
S
S V
Tell us about the people you saw and the food you ate.
However, we can do this if and only if the relative pronoun is an object pronoun.
Exercise
Read the diary and circle the six relative pronouns. If a relative pronoun can be eliminated, draw a
line through it.
Dear Diary,
Today was a very exciting day for me. It was my first day in high school, and I was
extremely excited. I signed up for the Spanish class which I had wanted for a long
time. Surprise! I get into the class! The teacher, who is from Malaga, Spain, is very
nice. I also got into a chemistry class. The lab, which is filled with all sorts of
scientific equipment, is a bit scary, but I think it will be interesting. Lunch time was
great because I got to see all the friends that I hadnt seen all summer long. Overall,
I think this will be a wonderful year. There are so many interesting extracurricular
activities that I want to participate in, as well. Again, I think this is a year that will
keep me busy and happy!
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 2
Maria English Society
(Version 1.0 2007)
Exercise
A.
Make each of these pairs of simple sentences into one complex sentence by using a
relative pronoun.
Example:
Answer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
They heard about the battle from a soldier. He had been wounded.
9.
10.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 3
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Do the following five questions as the three examples show:
1. Underline the adjective clause in each sentence.
2. Show which noun the adjective clause qualifies.
3. show the functions of the relative pronoun.
a.
4. The boy behaved in good manners that his father was proud of.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 4
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Replace those parts of the following sentences in italics by one of the words, whatever, whoever, etc.:
1.
Put down that book in any place that you can find room for it.
2.
3.
You see these books? You may choose any one of them that interests you.
4.
Her dogs always follow her to any place that she goes.
5.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 5
Maria English Society
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Exercise
The uses of relative pronouns who, which, that, whoever
1. The manager wants to know
(A) whom (B)
whose
4. Salespeople
travel more than three hundred miles per week are entitled
to drive a company car.
(A) who (B) whoever
(C) whom
(D) whose
5. Those trainees ____ have successfully completed the six-week course will be assigned to
various positions throughout the company.
(A) who (B) what
(C) their
(D) they
6. The conference was held at the citys exhibition hall, where opened just last month.
A
B
C
D
7. An additional clause may be added to your insurance policy where will cover damages
A
B
C
incurred during moving.
D
8. Visitors what would like to be added to the Centres mailing list should give their
A
B
C
D
names and addresses to the receptionist.
9. Everyone who apply for any type of loan should realize that deliberately falsifying
A
B
C
income information can have serious consequences.
D
10. Who removed the video equipment from the seminar room should return it
A
B
C
immediately.
D
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 6
Maria English Society
(Version 1.0 2007)
Adjective Clause
Relative adverbs: where, when, why
(1) Mary bought a safe.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 7
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(3) The principal wants to know the cause. The teacher punishes the boy reasonably.
(Reasonably is an adverb of reason.)
The principal wants to know the cause [why the teacher punishes the boy].
Exercise
Combine the following sentences with one of the four relative adverbs where, when, and why.
1.
2.
3.
Can you tell me the reason? You are not keeping your health.
4.
5.
Hard working is the cause. The boy gets a good result for that.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 8
Maria English Society
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Adjective clauses:
whose, who and whom
A special relative pronoun WHOSE (representing a possessive pronoun or a noun in possessive
case)
Example
People remember Presley. Presleys songs are very popular.
People remember Presley [whose songs are very popular].
WHOSE does two jobs:
1. to be subordinate conjunction, joining the adjective clause whose songs are very
popular to the main clause.
2. to represent Presleys in possessive case to qualify the noun song.
Exercise
Try to combine the following sentences with WHOSE.
1. Joe bought a new car. Its colour is red.
2. The boat sails along the river. Its banks are muddy.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 9
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The use of WHO (subject of a verb) and WHOM (object of a transitive verb or preposition)
Who is the subject of a verb
He is a good friend. A good friend speaks well of us behind our backs.
S
The boss [ ( to whom ) the staff paid attention] came into the room.
prep.
Exercise
Try to use WHO or WHOM to form an adjective clause.
1. The man learns nothing. He questions nothing.
2. No man can be a good ruler. A good ruler has first been ruled.
4. The child is finally found. The parents have looked for him.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 10
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Exercise
Fill the blanks with the relative pronouns who and whom, the relative adjective whose.
3. He [ __________ marries for love without money] has good nights and sorry days.
4. Wealth is not his __________ has it, but his__________ enjoys it.
8. The sun, [ __________ rays give life to the earth,] was regarded by the ancients as a god.
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Lesson 10 Page 11
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Adjective clauses:
which and that
WHICH is
S
A mole is an animal.
S V
(b) This jungle track is not a road.
S
S V
This jungle track is not a road.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 12
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THAT is
(a) for people, (b) for animal, and (c) for thing :
S
(a) This doctor is a psychiatrist.
S
V.
S
(b) The cat is catching a mouse.
S
S
The cat is catching a mouse.
S V
(c) This book is a new publication.
S
.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 13
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S
This book is a new publication.
(All the underlined relative clauses are adjective clauses, qualifying the preceding
nouns.)
(All the relative pronouns THAT and WHICH are used as subjects of the
adjective clauses.)
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Essential English Grammar
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t.v.
obj.
t.v. obj.
I am monarch of all. I survey all. (Pronoun)
O
obj.
obj.
A contented mind is the greatest blessing [that a man can enjoy in this world].
(All the relative pronouns are object of the transitive verbs in the adjective clauses.)
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obj.
perp.
Love is a game.
obj.
perp.
I have found the pencil.
obj.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 16
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perp. obj.
He has not brought the key.
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Essential English Grammar
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A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.
He whom I trust is my old friend.
2. OBJECT OF PERPOSITIONS
I show them the path which we came by.
=
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 18
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If a preposition comes before the objective relative pronoun, you have to return the preposition to
its ending position before we omit the objective relative pronoun:
I show them the path by which we came.
=
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 19
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When two nouns come together and the preposition doesnt have an object, we supply
which or that between the two nouns. Then the adjective clause appears:
.
2.
pron.
prep.
When two nouns come together and the transitive verb doesnt have an object, we supply
which or that between the two nouns. Then the adjective clause appears:
The prayers [which we said were few and short].
n.
pron.
tv
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 20
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Try to form an adjective clause by using the relative pronoun which, and then using a relative
adverb where.
This is an old church. John and Mary get married in the church.
(1)
(2)
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 21
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Supply a suitable relative pronouns to the following sentences: (That for people, animal, thing.
Which for animal, thing. Whom for people only.)
Example: Where is the book / I gave you?
Answer:
5. Children use a joystick to control the movements they see on the screen.
6. Some words Americans now use come from the languages of their immigrants.
7. He spent his money carelessly on things he really didnt need.
9. The crow dropped the cheese, the fox immediately caught with its mouth.
10. The boy you see there made the top score in the last match.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 22
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Fill in the blanks with who, whom, that, which and whose.
1. He _____ knows little, often repeats it.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 23
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Read the paragraph and insert the correct relative pronoun in the blanks. Sometimes there is more
than one possible answer
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 24
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Exercise
Rewrite each of the following sentences making a preposition adjective clause from the clause in
parentheses.
Examples:
The story (I alluded to the story) is in this article.
The story that I alluded to is in this article.
1. The article (the professor commented on the article) was published last week.
2. The information (you are looking for the information) can be found on the Web.
3. The report (this data will be incorporated into the report) is due in March.
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 25
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Exercise
Combine each of the following sets of clauses into one sentence, making an adjective clause using
where or when from the clause in parentheses.
Examples:
Seattle is a city. (People drink a lot of coffee there)
Seattle is a city where people drink a lot of coffee.
3. I want to find a time and date. (We can meet at that time and date.)
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 26
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Exercise
Combine each of the following sets of clauses into one sentence, making an adjective clause using
whose from the clause in parentheses.
Examples:
Ann is an author. (Her books sell very well in Europe.)
Ann is an author whose books sell very well in Europe.
Dr. Lee met with students. (He had rejected their proposals.)
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 27
Maria English Society
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Exercise
Combine each of the following sets of clauses into one sentence, making an adjective clause using
of which or of whom from the clause in parentheses.
Examples:
Governments often invest in new weapons. (the cost of new weapons is enormous.)
Governments often invest in new weapons, the cost of which is enormous.
Emily Dickinson produced a large body of poetry. (Much of her poetry remained unpublished
during her lifetime.)
Now her poems are appreciated by thousand of people. (Many of the people memorize them
in school.)
A complete compilation of Dickinsons poems was published in 1955. (The editor of the
compilation was Thomas Johnson.)
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Essential English Grammar
Lesson 10 Page 28
Maria English Society
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