1. WHAT ARE THEY? WHEN DO YOU USE THEM? Adjective Clauses

2. What’s an adjective clause? What’s a clause? A group of words with a subject and verb What’s an adjective? A word that modifies a noun What’s an adjective clause? A clause that modifies a noun (It acts like an adjective.)

3. Relative Pronouns Begin adjective clauses Subject relative pronouns: who, that, which Object relative pronouns: Who, whom, which, that Possessive: whose Important: The one to use depends on the function of the word it is representing.

4. Let’s try some examples.

5. Relative Pronouns as Subject That is the man. He ate my supper. That is the man who ate my supper. That is the man that ate my supper. That is the dog. It ate my supper. That is the dog that ate my supper. That is the dog which ate my supper. Which relative pronoun do you use when? People: who & that Things: that & which

6. Relative Pronouns as Objects That is the man. I saw him yesterday. That is the man who I saw yesterday. That is the man that I saw yesterday. That is the man whom I saw yesterday. That is the man ø I saw yesterday. That is the dog. I saw it yesterday. That is the dog which I saw yesterday. That is the dog that I saw yesterday. That is the dog ø I saw yesterday.

7. Relative Pronoun for Possession That is the man. His wife shot him. That is the man whose wife shot him. Summary: PeopleThings Subjectwho, thatthat, which Objectwho, that, whom, ø That, which, ø Possessivewhose

8. Let’s have some fun! I read his book. It was very interesting. I read his book which was very interesting. I read his book that was very interesting. The book is interesting. He wrote it quickly. The book which he wrote quickly is interesting. The book that he wrote quickly is interesting. N.B. An adjective clause must immediately follow the noun it modifies.

9. More fun! (Aren’t you lucky?) That is the book. I bought it last week. That is the book which I bought last week. OR: that I bought last week. That’s my purse. Someone stole it. That’s my purse which someone stole. OR: that someone stole. N.B. Do not repeat the object pronoun (it).

10. The Last Slide (Oh, darn!) That’s my neighbor. Her husband is dead. That’s my neighbor whose husband is dead. The Mennonites live in Iowa. Their lifestyle is also simple. The Mennonites, whose lifestyle is also simple, live in Iowa. N.B. Put commas around clauses are not necessary to identify the noun modified.