Adjective Clause


An adjective clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun, pronoun, or gerund used as a noun in the main clause or in another subordinate clause. for example, in the sentence:

The car that John just bought is expensive.

The car in question  is not just any car, or any expensive car. It  is the car

that John just bought.

Thus, the subordinate clause, that John just bought, modifies the noun, car, in the main clause.

A complex sentence has one main clause and at least one subordinating clause. The above example is a complex sentence because it contains one main clause – the car is expensive – and one subordinate clause – that John just b0ught – that modifies.

A simple sentence contains only one main clause. Simple sentences can be combined to form complex sentences.

This is a simple sentence:

The professor is a college professor.

This is a simple sentence.

The professor will speak about the economy.

This is a complex sentence formed from the two simple sentences above:

The speaker who will speak about the economy is a college professor.

The main clause in the above sentence is:

The speaker is a college professor.

However, the subject of the main clause, the speaker, is also the college professor who will speak about the economy. The clause,

who will speak about the economy 

is the subordinate clause. It says something about the speaker/college professor.

Notice how the college professor was replaced with the pronoun – who – in the complex sentence. This is a relative pronoun.

Consider another complex sentence:

The speaker, who is a college professor, will speak about the economy.

In this complex sentence, the underlined section is the main clause. However, the speaker is not just any speaker. He is a college professor. Thus, the subordinate clause says something about a noun – the speaker  – in the main clause. Like an adjective modifies a noun, an adjective clause modifies a noun.

Consider another complex sentence:

The speaker, who will speak about the economy, is a college professor 

In this sentence, the emphasis is placed on the fact that the speaker is a college professor, but not any college professor but the one who will speak about the economy. The subordinate clause modifies the speaker.

In the proceeding examples, the adjective clause modifies the subject of the sentence. In addition, an adjective clause can modify either the object of the clause. for example, I like the car that travels the fastest. The main clause is I like the car. The subject of the main clause is, I. This pronoun preforms the action, like.  The car is the object of the clause. It receives the action. However, the subordinate clause, that travels the fastest, modifies the car. Thus, the adjective clause modifies the object of the sentence.

Adjective clauses are joined by a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction. The following is a list of the relative pronouns used to connect an adjective clause to a main clause.

  • that
  • where
  • who
  • whom
  • which

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun refers back to a noun or a pronoun in the main clause.  The noun or pronoun that the relative pronoun references is called an antecedent. Consider the following example:

I know the thief who stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

In this short complex sentence, the main clause is I know the thief

the subordinate clause is who stole the cookie from the cookie jar.

The relative pronoun is who, and the antecedent is the thief  because this is the noun that the antecedent references.

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Pronouns In General

Pronouns

This quiz will allow you to check your knowledge of pronouns, in general. There are multiple correct answers to each question, so read the sentence carefully and choose all the pronouns. If you need to review pronouns, you can learn more here.

Read Pronouns

1 / 7

1. I agree that people who take a course and succeed will be more likely to return to take other courses.

Pronouns

2 / 7

2. I am inspired by how you explain the reciprocal benefit of community-based education programs.

3 / 7

3. I asked her about the types of classes they offer, and she told me that they play mental games

There is one subject and one object pronoun.

4 / 7

4. I think these programs are keeping her alive and mentally sharp.

You occurs twice

5 / 7

5. If you want to improve your reading, comprehension, and writing, then you need to improve your understanding of the parts of a sentence.

Remember the purpose of a pronoun is to stand in the place of a noun.

There are five. Read Pronouns

6 / 7

6. I know a woman who has trained her dog to do a trick. He can roll over, whenever she tells him to.

There are four. Read Pronouns

7 / 7

7. The people whose ideas are more like mine are the smartest people on Earth because they think like me.

Your score is

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Subordinating conjunctions also.