Introduction to subject relative clauses and object relative clauses

1. Adjective Clauses
Summer 2013
Holly Cin

2. Adjective Clauses
(also known as Relative Clauses)
 Adjective clauses function just like adjectives. They give extra information about nouns.
 Adjective clauses are dependent clauses. They depend on the nouns which they modify.
 Adjective clauses should be placed as close as possible to the nouns which they modify.
 The relative clause connects with the main clause by using relative pronouns: who, whom, whose,
which, whomever, and that. The relative pronouns are substitutes for the original noun or pronoun.
Example: The woman who lives next door is coming for dinner tonight.
This can be divided into two sentences:
The woman is coming for dinner tonight. She lives next door.
Example: The book which is on the table is my grammar book.
This can be divided into two sentences:
The book is my grammar book. It is on the table.

3. There are two types of adjective clauses:
Subject clauses and object clauses
Subject clause:
Example 1:
The woman who lives next door is coming to dinner tonight.
The woman is coming to dinner tonight. She lives next door.
Because the woman and “she” are the same person, this is a subject clause.
Example 2:
The book which is on the table is my grammar book.
The book is my grammar book. It is on the table.
Because the book and “it” are the same thing, this is a subject clause.

4. There are two types of adjective clauses:
Subject clauses and object clauses
Object clause:
Example 1:
The man who I saw last night at the theater was Mr. Jones.
1. The man was Mr. Jones.
2. I saw him last night at the theater.
In sentence 1, the man is the subject. In sentence 2, I am the subject and the man (him) is
the object. This makes this clause an object relative clause.
Example 2:
The movie which we saw last week wasn’t very good.
1. The movie wasn’t very good.
2. We saw it.
In sentence 1, the movie is the subject. In sentence 2, we is the subject and it is the object.
This makes the clause an object relative clause.