1. Adjective Clauses with Subject Relative Pronouns6
Adjective Clauses with Subject Relative Pronouns
Famous Faces and Places
Focus on Grammar 4
Part VI, Unit 13
By Ruth Luman, Gabriele Steiner, and BJ Wells
Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. History 101 Oh, I know. She’s a woman who won the Nobel Prize in 1903.
She discovered the element of radium, which is used in X-rays.
She’s a scientist whose discoveries have greatly affected the medical field .
Okay, let’s start studying for our history exam. I’ll ask a question, and you tell me the answer.
Wow. Good answers. Okay, next question. Who was Gandhi?
What did she discover?
Who is Marie Curie?

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, which is in Western India.
Gandhi was a man who worked for peace.
The clause who worked for peace identifies the man we are talking about.
The clause which is in Western India gives additional 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 who was a famous botanist.
someone
The adjective clause directly follows the noun (or pronoun) it is identifying.

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

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

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. Practice 1 OR Example: Example: a) Albert Einstein was a physicist.
Combine the groups of sentences into one sentence with an adjective clause. Use the appropriate relative pronouns.
Practice 1
Example:
Example: a) Albert Einstein was a physicist.
b) He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
Albert Einstein was a physicist who/that won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
a) Ang San Su Kyi is a Burmese peace activist in Myanmar.
b) Myanmar is a country located in Southeast Asia.
2. a) Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter.
b) His work is displayed in many famous museums.
3. a) Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun.
b) She devoted her life to the poor.
Ang San Su Kyi is a Burmese peace activist in Myanmar which is a country located in Southeast Asia.
Albert Einstein was a physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. OR
Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter whose work is displayed in many famous museums.
Albert Einstein was a physicist that won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who/that devoted her life to the 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 identifies which books the sentence talks about.
The adjective clause is not necessary to identify the which books are referred to.
The books which are on the table belong to me.
The books, which are on the table, belong to me.

13. Nonidentifying Adjective Clause Identifying Adjective Clause
Commas
A nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Do not use commas with an identifying adjective clause.
Nonidentifying Adjective Clause
Identifying Adjective Clause
The map, which is on the table, is new.
The map which is on the table is new.

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

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

16. References
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Gandhi: © Silvio Fiore / SuperStock