Marie Curie was a scientist who discovered radium and won the Nobel Prize in 1903. Her discoveries have greatly affected the medical field. Gandhi was a man who lived in Gujarat, India and worked for peace. Marie Curie discovered radium and won the Nobel Prize in 1903 for her work.

1. Adjective Clauses with
6 Subject Relative
Pronouns
Famous Faces
and Places
Focus on Grammar 4
Part VI, Unit 13
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright © 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. History 101
Oh, IShe’s a She’s thewhose who start studying for our
She discovered a woman let’s answers. Okay, next
Okay,
know. scientist element of
Wow. Good
radium, which isPrize inquestion. Who she question,
history exam. I’ll ask a discover?
won the Nobelhave greatly What is Marie Curie?
discoveries used in1903.X-rays. did was Gandhi?
affected the medical field. Whome the answer.
and you tell

3. Adjective Clauses 1
Use adjective clauses to identify or give additional
information about nouns (people, places, or things).
He lived in the state of Gujarat,
Gandhi was a manWestern India. peace.
which is in who worked for
The clause
The clause
who worked for peace
which is in Western India
identifies the man we are
gives additional
talking about.
information about Gujarat.

4. Adjective Clauses 2
Adjective clauses can also identify or describe indefinite
pronouns such as one, someone, somebody,
something, another, and other(s).
George Washington Carver is someone
someone
who was a famous botanist.
The adjective clause directly
follows the noun (or pronoun)
it is identifying.

5. Adjective Clauses 3
Sentences with adjective clauses can be
seen as a combination of two sentences.
Beethoven was a Florence Nightingale was a nurse.
composer.
+ +
His music is still enjoyed by manymodern healthcare methods.
She developed people.
= =
Beethoven was aFlorence Nightingale was a nurse who
composer whose
music is still enjoyed by many people.
developed modern healthcare methods.

6. Relative Pronouns 1
Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns.
Subject relative pronouns can be who, that, which,
and whose.
Abraham Lincolnis a painting which
The Mona Lisa was an American
Use whose to refer to
people’s possessions. fought against slavery.
possessions
president who slavery
is known throughout the world.
world
OR
Thomas Edison, whose inventions
Edison
Abraham Lincolnis a painting that
The Mona Lisa was an American
changed the world, was born in 1847.
world is known throughout the world.
world
president that fought against slavery.
slavery
Use That is less formal than to
Use which or that to refer
who or that to
who places or and used
and which
refer to people. things.
people
more in conversation.

7. 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.

8. Combine the groups of sentences into
Practice 1 one sentence with an adjective
clause. Use the appropriate relative
pronouns.
Example:
Example: a) Albert Einstein was aaphysicist. who/that
Albert Einstein was physicist
b) He won the Nobel Prize Physics in in 1921.
won the Nobel Prize in in Physics 1921.
1. a) Ang San Su Kyi is a Burmesepeace activist in Myanmar
peace activist in Myanmar.
Ang San Su Kyi Albert Einstein was a physicist who won
is a Burmese
b) Myanmar is a thelocatedPrize in Southeast Asia.
which is a country Nobel in Southeast Asia.1921.
Asia
country located in Physics in 1921
OR
2. a) Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter.
Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter whose work is
displayed is displayed Einstein was a physicist that won
Albert
b) His workin many famous museums. museums.
museums
in many famous
the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
1921
3. a) Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun.
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who/that devoted her
b) She the poor.her life to the poor.
life to devoted
poor

9. 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.

10. 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 for his theory that the world is round.
Plato and Aristotle are ancient Greek
men who are known for philosophies.
plural verb

11. 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

12. Two Kinds of Adjective Clauses
There are two kinds of adjective clauses,
identifying and nonidentifying.
The adjective clause The adjective clause is not
The books which are on
identifies which books the
The books,to identify the
necessary
which are on
the table belong to me.
sentence talks about. the table, belong to me.
which books are referred to.

13. 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 is on
Nonidentifying Adjective The map which is on the
Identifying
the table, is new.
Clause table is new. Clause
Adjective

14. Be Careful!
Do not use that to introduce nonidentifying adjective
clauses. Use who for people and which for places
clauses
and things.
Athens, that is the birthplace , that won the Nobel Prize,
Marie Curie
of the Olympics, is in Greece. radium.
discovered
Athens, which is theMarie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize,
birthplace
of the Olympics, is in Greece. radium.
discovered

15. Find and correct the errors in the
Practice 2 adjective clauses of the sentences.
Discuss your answers with a partner.
Example: Italy, which is the birthplace of opera, is a
that is the birthplace of opera, is a
opera
opera
fascinating country.
• Louis Armstrong was a famous American musician who he
made jazz popular.
popular
2. Frida Kahlo, whose paintings have recently become well-
has recently become well-
known, was a Mexican painter.
known
lives in South Africa, fought against
• Nelson Mandela, who live in South Africa, fought against
Africa
Africa
apartheid.
• Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian author who writes novels
which writes novels
about village life.
life
• Valentina Tereshkova,who was the first woman to travel
into space, is Russian.

16. References
Copyright © 2006 Pearson Education and
its licensors. All rights reserved.
Photo credit:
Ghandi: © Silvio Fiore / SuperStock