1. Noun, Adjective, and Adverb Clauses:
Also Known as Dependent Clauses!
Grammar
Eleventh Grade American Literature
Ms. Pennell

2. Noun Clauses …
 A noun clause is a subordinate
clause that acts as a noun.
Usually start with a relative
pronoun
 Relative Pronouns: that,
which, who, whom, whose
Acts like a noun or an adjective

3. Functions in Examples
Sentences
Subject Whoever travels the
Chattahoochee River follows the
yellow rafts gently floating down a
peaceful track.
Direct Object You must pack whatever you will
need.
Indirect Object You should give whoever waits at
the camp a copy of your route.
Object of a Robert Campbell settled trading
Preposition camps in whatever regions the
Hudson’s Bay Company sent him.
Predicate At 40, Campbell’s most notable
Nominative achievement was that he
(is a noun or pronoun that established Fort Selkirk.
appears with a linking verb
and renames, identifies, or
explains the subject)

4. Adjective Clauses
 An adjective clause is a
subordinate clause that modifies a
noun or pronoun by telling what kind
or which one. Adjective clauses act
like adjectives.
 Usually connected to the word it
modifies by one of the relative pronouns
(that which, who, whom, or whose).
 Sometimes, it is connected by a relative
adverb (after, before, since, when,
where, or why).

5. Examples of Adjective
Clauses
 Arctic winters, which are
long and cold, are severe.
 The arctic is a region where
life is difficult.
 She likes the guy who sits in
front of her.

6. Essential and Nonessential
Adjective Clauses
 An adjective clause that is
nonessential to the basic
meaning of a sentence is set off
by commas.
 The ship, which was a nuclear
submarine, became the first
vessel to pass beneath the North
Pole.

7. Example of an Essential
Adjective Clause
 Essential adjective clauses are
not set off by commas.
 The first vessel that passed
beneath the North Pole was a
nuclear submarine.

8. Practical Use of Adjective
Clauses
 By using either a nonessential or an
essential adjective clause, you can
often combine the ideas from two
sentences into one.
The Arktika was the first surface ship to
crack through the Arctic icepack. It was
a Soviet ice breaker.
Combine the above two sentences using
an essential or nonessential adjective
clause.

9. Solution …
 The Arktika, which was a Soviet
icebreaker, was the first surface
ship to crack the Arctic ice pack.

10. Adjective Clauses Continued
 Relative pronouns and relative
adverbs not only introduce
adjective clauses, but also
function within the subordinate
clause.

11. Adjective Clauses Continued
 A relative pronoun or relative
adverb:
 Connects the adjective clause to
the modified word
 Acts within the clause as a
subject, direct object, or other
sentence part.

12. The Uses of Relative
Pronouns Within the Clause
As a Subject: The part of Alaska that is
that is within the Arctic Circle within the Arctic Circle is cold
most of the year.
As a Direct Object: The explorer whom I met last
(Reworded) I met whom last year has never been to the
year North Pole.
As the Object of a The climate is one in which
Preposition: little foliage can grow.
(Reworded) little foliage can
grow in which – obj of prep
As an Adjective: I saw a dog whose sled left
whose sled left without him without him.
Adj.

13. Adverb Clauses
 Adverb clauses modify verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, or verbals
by telling where, when, in what
way, to what extent, under what
condition, or why.
 An example of an adverb clause
is as follows:
 The Yukon entered Canada’s
confederation after a gold rush
brought 100,000 people to the
territory.

14. Adverb Clauses Continued …
 The Yukon entered Canada’s
confederation after a gold rush
brought 100,000 people to the
territory.
 Here the subordinate clause after a
gold rush brought 100,000 people to
the territory is modifying or
describing the verb entered.

15. More on Adverb Clauses and how these
clauses function in sentences …
Remember that adverb clauses modify verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or
verbals (gerund, participial, and infinitive phrases) by telling where,
when, in what way, to what extent, under what condition, or why.
Modified Examples
Words
Verb: The Yukon entered Canada’s confederation
after a gold rush brought 100,000 people to
the territory.
Adjective: The miner’s children were nervous whenever
he entered a tunnel.
Adverb: Today’s dig lasted longer than the one
yesterday.
Participle: The miners, cheering whenever someone
made a strike, were excited.
Gerund: Digging wherever miners thought there was
gold has left the Yukon full of old miners.
Infinitive: The tired miners wanted to relax after the
workday ended.

16. Elliptical Adverb Clauses
 In an elliptical adverb clause,
especially those beginning with
as or than, the verb or both the
subject and the verb are not
stated but are understood.
 Verb Understood: I am taller than
he (is).
 The Yukon has as many rural
inhabitants as (it has) urban
inhabitants.