1. Grammar
Explanation:
Descriptive Phrases
Pages 262-266

2. Some adjective clauses can be
shortened to descriptive
phrases.
We can shorten and adjective
clause in which the relative
pronoun is followed by the verb
to be.

3. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• People who are • People unhappy
unhappy about about the
the amount of amount of spam
spam they they receive
receive should should write
write their their lawmakers.
lawmakers.

4. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Pierre Omidyar, • Pierre Omidyar,
who is the the founder of
founder of e- e-Bay, is one of
Bay, is one of the richest men
the richest men in the world.
in the world.

5. A descriptive phrase can begin
with a past participle.
This happens if you drop the
relative pronoun and verb “to
be” from an adjective clause in
the passive voice:

6. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
•One half of •One half of
all the e- all the e-
mail that is mail sent
sent today today is
is spam. spam.

7. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
•There are •There are
about 78 about 78
million items
that are million
listed on e- items listed
Bay. on e-Bay.

8. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
•There are •There are
about 78 about 78
million items
that are million
listed on e- items listed
Bay. on e-Bay.

9. A descriptive phrase can begin
with a present participle (-ing
form).
This happens if you drop the
relative pronoun and verb “to
be” from an adjective clause
the present or past continuous
tense:

10. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• A man who is • A man living in
living in Florida Florida retired
retired at the at the age of 37
age of 37 after after making
making millions millions in the
in the spam spam business.
business.

11. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Shoppers who • Shoppers using
are using e- e-Bay can locate
a hard-to-find
Bay can locate
item.
a hard-to-find
item.

12. A descriptive phrase can give a
definition or more information
about the noun it follows.
This kind of descriptive phrase
is called an appositive.

13. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Spam, which is • Spam,
unwanted e- unwanted e-
mail, is an
mail, is an
annoying
annoying problem.
problem.

14. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• eBay, which is • eBay, an
an auction auction Web
Web site, is site, is very
very popular. popular.

15. A descriptive phrase can begin
with a preposition:

16. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• A man who is • A man in
in Florida Florida retired
retired at the at the age of
age of 37. 37.

17. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Pierre, who is • Pierre, from
from France, France,
created e-Bay. created e-Bay.

18. A descriptive phrase can be
essential or nonessential:

19. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• People who are • People unhappy
unhappy about about the
the amount of amount of spam
spam they they receive
receive should should write
write their their lawmakers.
lawmakers.

20. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Pierre Omidyar, • Pierre Omidyar,
who is the the founder of
founder of e- e-Bay, is one of
Bay, is one of the richest men
the richest men in the world.
in the world.

21. However, an appositive is
always non-essential:

22. Compare:
Sentence with an adjective Same sentence with a
clause: descriptive phrase:
• Spam, which is • Spam,
unwanted e- unwanted e-
mail, is an
mail, is an
annoying
annoying problem.
problem.

23. Exercise 25
Pages 263-264

24. 1. Google, a popular search
engine, is used by millions of
people.
(You can leave out “which is.”)

25. 2. Bill Gates, one of the richest
people in the world, gets spam
asking him if he wants to
become rich.
(You can leave out “who is.”)

26. 3. There are a lot of dishonest
companies trying to take your
money.
(You can leave out “which are.”)

27. 4. eBay takes a percentage of
each sale made on its Web site.

28. 5. A virus is a harmful program
passed from computer to
computer.

29. 6. Tim Berners-Lee, born in
England, now works at MIT.

30. 7. MIT, located in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, is an excellent
university.

31. 8. Berners-Lee developed the
idea for the Web when he was
working at CERN, a physics lab
in Switzerland.

32. 9. Berners-Lee’s parents
worked on the first computer
sold commercially.

33. 10. People using the Web can
shop from their homes.

34. 11. People interested in
reading newspapers from
other cities can find them on
the Web.

35. 12. The World Wide Web,
abbreviated WWW, was first
introduced on the Internet in
1991.

36. Exercise 26
Page 264

37. 1. Google, a popular search
engine, is very easy to use.

38. 2. Have ever used Mapquest, a
Web site that gives maps and
directions?

39. 3. Tim Berners-Lee Works at
MIT, a university in
Massachusetts.

40. 4. Tim Berners-Lee was born in
1955, the same year as Bill
Gates.

41. 5. Freecycle.org, created in
2003, helps the environment.

42. Exercise 27
Pages 265-266
In this exercise, you have choices about how
to write the sentences!

43. 1. Pierre Omidyar, who was
born in France, wrote his first
computer program at age 14.
OR
Pierre Omidyar, born in France,
wrote his first computer
program at age 14.

44. 2. BusinessWeek, which is a popular
business magazine, named Meg
Whitman among the 25 most
powerful business managers.
OR
BusinessWeek, a popular business
magazine, named Meg Whitman
among the 25 most powerful
business managers.

45. 3. Bill Gates, whose father was a
lawyer, was born in 1955.

46. 4. Bill Gates wrote his first computer
program in 1967, when he was only
12 years old.

47. 5. Bill Gates, whose wife is a
marketing executive at Microsoft,
has three children.

48. 5. Bill Gates, whose wife is a
marketing executive at Microsoft,
has three children.

49. 6. Paul Allen, whom Bill Gates met in
high school, helped create Microsoft.

50. 7. Bill Gates, who dropped out of
Harvard during his second year,
started Microsoft at the age of 19.

51. 8. Freecycle is an online network
whose members can receive goods
for free.

52. 8. Freecycle.org, whose members
can receive goods for free, is an
online network.

53. 9. Michael Dell, who dropped out of
college after his first year, created
Dell computers.

54. 9. Michael Dell created Dell
computers when he dropped out of
college after his first year.

55. 10. Dell’s parents were worried
about Michael, whose grades were
dropping.

56. 11. Dell’s business started to
perform well at the end of his first
year in college, when it was making
over $50,000 a month.

57. 12. Dell Computers, which was
selling about $18 million of
computers a day by the late 1990’s,
was one of the first companies to
sell computers online.

58. 13. In 2000, Forbes, which is a
business magazine, named Dell
Computers the third most admired
company in the U.S.
This is a sentence with an adjective
clause.

59. 13. In 2000, Forbes, a business
magazine, named Dell Computers
the third most admired company in
the U.S.
This is the same sentence with a
descriptive phrase instead of an
adjective clause.

60. 14. In 2008, Meg Whiteman
resigned from eBay, where she
worked for ten years.

61. 14. In 2008, Meg Whitman, who
worked at eBay for ten years,
resigned.