UNIT 7 ADJECTIVE CLAUSES
FOCUS
What ingredient is missing from the following sentence?
Some plants —– add to their diet by feeding on insects.
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This sentence requires a modifier between the subject plants and the predicate verb add. Only the second option that live in poor soil is a modifier. This is an attributive clause, which plays the role of an adjective in the sentence and modifies plants. The correct expression of this sentence is:
Some plants that live in poor soil add to their diet by feeding on insects.
What ingredient is missing from the following sentence?
An element is a substance ____ only one kind of atom.
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The noun substance in this sentence needs a modifier after it. Only the third option containing can be combined with the following part to form a participle phrase containing only one kind of atom, which plays the role of an adjective in the sentence and modifies substance. The correct expression of this sentence is:
An element is a substance containing only one kind of atom.
STUDY
Adjectives are used to modify nouns. Adjectives qualify, define, specify, or describe a noun. An adjective can be a word or a group of words.
| Structure | What It Is | Examples |
| adjective | words that modify nouns | The average seagull feeds on a wide range of prey species. Dancers are usually elegant, graceful, and strong. |
| attributive clause | Clauses that modify nouns | A child who rides a bicycle will develop strong leg muscles. Estuaries, where rivers meet the sea, are home to an abundance of plants and animals. |
| adjective phrase | a group of words that modify a noun | Winds blowing in from the ocean are warm and moist. The toga worn by the Etruscan kings was decorated with embroidered designs.
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| participle adjective | The participle form of the verb is used as an adjective
| All of the large sports stores carry climbing gear. The main sources of typhoid fever are contaminated water, milk, and food. |
An adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies. When the adjective comes after the verb be, it modifies the subject of be. Attributive clauses and adjective phrases come after the noun they modify. A participle adjective comes before the noun it modifies.
An attributive clause is a dependent clause that serves as an adjective in a sentence and is used to modify a noun. Like other dependent clauses, attributive clauses must have a subject and a predicate verb. Attributive clauses can also have objects.
| Subordinating conjunction + subject + predicate verb (+ other parts of the clause) |
The attributive clause comes after the noun it modifies. In the following sentences, the modified nouns are in italics.
| A bird’s primary habitat is the one where (sub) most people (S) observe (V) it (O). Robert Frost was a poet whose (sub) work (S) changed (V) American poetry (O). |
Attributive clauses appear frequently in spoken and written English. A sentence can contain several attributive clauses. An attributive clause can contain other attributive clauses. In the following sentences, the modified nouns are in italics.
| The musician who popularized bop was Dizzy Gillespie, whose performance elicited a delight that audiences had never known before. |
| attributive clause | who (S) popularized (V) bop whose performance (S) elicited (V) a delight |
| main clause | that audiences (S) had never known (V) before The musician (S) … was (V) Dizzy Gillespie |
Subordinating conjunctions that introduce attributive clauses are called relative pronouns. Therefore, attributive clauses are also called relative clauses. The following relative pronouns function as subordinating conjunctions in attributive clauses.
| that | which | who | whom | whose |
Relative pronouns are used to refer to nouns that have been mentioned earlier in the sentence. That can refer to people, animals and things. Which only refers to animals and things. who and whose only refer to people. Whose is the possessive case and can refer to people, animals and things.
In the following sentences, the nouns referred to by relative pronouns are in italics.
| Grass belongs to a group of plants that have long, narrow leaves. A climatologist is a scientist who studies weather trends to determine patterns. |
Attributive clauses can also be introduced by other subordinating conjunctions.
| when | where | whereby |
| Spring is the season when snow melts and flowers bloom. The dean explained the process whereby scholarships would be rewarded. |
Relative pronouns come after the noun they refer to. However, sometimes other modifiers are inserted between the noun and the relative pronoun of the attributive clause.
| The minnow belongs to the family of fish that includes carp and goldfish. Mass migrations during the twentieth century, which affected countless people, were driven by political factors. |
In attributive clauses, relative pronouns can play a variety of roles. Relative pronouns can be the subjects of attributive clauses.
| subject of attributive clause | The general who (S) led (V) the Union Army to victory was Ulysses S. Grant. The chimpanzee has a genetic make-up that (S) closely resembles (V) our own. S V |
Relative pronouns can be the direct objects of predicate verbs.
| direct object in attributive clause | The cat is the animal that (DO) most apartment dwellers (S) choose (V) as their pet. Shakespeare is the playwright whom (DO) many actors (S) consider (V) the greatest. |
Note: When the relative pronouns that and whom serve as direct objects in the attributive clause, they can be omitted and the meaning of the sentence remains unchanged.
The cat is the animal most apartment dwellers choose as their pet.
Shakespeare is the playwright many actors consider the greatest. Relative pronouns can be the objects of prepositions. A preposition is part of an attributive clause.
| object of preposition | Bermuda is an area of islands and coral rocks to which tourists are attracted. |
In the above sentence, the verb are attracted requires the preposition to, and to must be before which. an area… to which thousands of tourists are attracted
However, in informal usage, the preposition to can be placed at the end of a sentence.
| Bermuda is an area of islands and coral rocks which tourists are attracted to. |
The above sentence can be written in another form:
| Tourists are attracted to an area of islands and coral rocks, Bermuda. |
The objects which, whom and possessive whose in the clause can be located after the preposition. But who, that, when and where cannot come after a preposition.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| A child’s best friend is the person in who she confides her most personal dreams. | A child’s best friend is the person in whom she confides her most personal dreams. |
| Twenty-seven is the median age at when American men marry for the first time. | Twenty-seven is the median age at which American men marry for the first time. Twenty-seven is the median age American men marry for the first time. |
Some attributive clauses are essential for the identification of nouns and the meaning of sentences, and are called restrictive adjective clauses (necessary adjective clauses or restrictive clauses). Restrictive attributive clauses are used to identify, restrict, or qualify the nouns they modify. There is no comma between the restrictive attributive clause and the main clause.
| People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. Conifers are trees that produce seed-bearing cones. |
Some attributive clauses are not essential for expressing the meaning of the sentence. They are called non-restrictive attributive clauses and do not play the role of identifying or limiting the noun they modify. A non-restrictive attributive clause needs to be separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma to provide additional information about the noun it modifies.
| Eugene O’Neill, who wrote over thirty plays, won the Nobel Prize in 1936. The Cretaceous period, which spanned 70 million years, was a time of intense volcanic activity. |
A non-restrictive attributive clause cannot begin with the relative pronoun that.
| Incorrect | Correct |
| The saxophone, that was created for the marching band, is now an important jazz instrument. | The saxophone, which was created for the marching band, is now an important jazz instrument. |
5.Adjective Phrases
Some attributive clauses can be shortened to adjective phrases without changing the meaning of the sentence. An adjective phrase is a group of words that can function as an adjective.
Only when the relative pronoun who, which or that serves as the subject of the attributive clause, the attributive clause can be reduced to an adjective phrase.
The verb in an adjective phrase takes the form of a present participle or a past participle. Therefore, adjective phrases are also called participle phrases.
When the attributive clause is reduced to an adjective phrase:
| attributive clause adjective phrase | A pediatrician is a doctor who specializes in the care of children. A pediatrician is a doctor specializing in the care of children. |
| attributive clause adjective phrase | The results of the study, which were released last year, surprised nearly everyone. The results of the study, released last year, surprised nearly everyone. |
| attributive clause adjective phrase | Lava that is thrown from a volcano travels great distances. Lava thrown from a volcano travels great distances. |
Non-restrictive attributive clauses need to be separated by commas, and their corresponding adjective phrases also need to be separated by commas.
| Crater Lake, which was formed by a volcano, is a superb setting for day hikes. Crater Lake, formed by a volcano, is a superb setting for day hikes. |
Attributive clauses introduced by which or who and predicated by the verb be can be shortened to appositives. An appositive is a nominal structure that appears next to the noun it modifies and is separated by a comma (see pages 10-11). In the process of shortening to appositive, relative pronouns and verbs are omitted.
| attributive clause appositive | One application of the laser is holography, which is the production of three- dimensional images. One application of the laser is holography, the production of three-dimensional images. |
| attributive clause appositive | Currier and Ives, who were American lithographers, produced popular hand- colored prints. Currier and Ives, American lithographers, produced popular hand-colored prints. |
Adjective phrases can be in active or passive voice. Active voice adjective phrases contain the -ing form of the verb (i.e. the present participle).
| attributive clause adjective phrase | Animals that live in alpine zones have thick coats. Animals living in alpine zones have thick coats. |
An adjective phrase in the passive voice contains the -ed form of the verb (i.e., the past participle).
| attributive clause adjective phrase | Yellowstone, which was authorized by Congress in 1872, is the oldest national park. Yellowstone, authorized by Congress in 1872, is the oldest national park. |
A participle adjective is an adjective formed from the past participle or present participle of a verb. A participle adjective is the simplest form of an adverbial clause.
| adverbial clause | Toes that are frozen by sub-zero temperatures must sometimes be amputated. |
| adjective phrase | Toes frozen by sub-zero temperatures must sometimes be amputated. |
| participle adjective | Frozen toes must sometimes be amputated. |
Participle adjectives usually come after the noun they modify.
| Freezing (Adj.) temperatures (N) cause a lot of damage to fingers and toes. |
When a participle adjective comes after be or become, it usually modifies the subject in the sentence.
| China (S) is ideally suited (Adj.) for growing tea. |
Note: participle adjectives can be modified with adverbs. In the above sentence, the adverb ideally modifies the participle adjective suited.
Active voice participle adjectives describe the person or cause of an action. Active voice participle adjectives originate from active voice verbs and are formed by the -ing form of the verb (i.e. present participle).
| A magnifying glass makes objects appear larger than they really are. Human behavior is an interesting topic to psychologists. |
In the first sentence above, the cup is the sender of the action, and the cup magnifies the object. In the second sentence, the topic of human behavior interests psychologists.
Passive voice participle adjectives describe the recipient or result of an action. Passive voice participle adjectives originate from passive voice verbs. It is formed by the -ed form of the verb (that is, the past participle).
| The history professor gave his students a list of six required books. Dried fruit weighs much less than an equivalent volume of canned fruit. |
In the first sentence above, books are the recipients of the action, books are needed for teaching. In the second sentence, fruit is the recipient of the action, fruit was dried, and fruit was canned.
Some verbs have irregular past participles, and their corresponding participle adjectives are also irregular.
| bent broken chosen fallen | forbidden forgotten frozen hidden | kept known lost mistaken | spoken stolen worn written |
| After the storm, there were many broken windows and fallen branches. Romeo and Juliet is Shakespeare’s best-known play. Idioms are used frequently in both spoken and written English. |
PRACTICE
Exercise 7-A
Adjective Clauses. Underline all adjective clauses and circle the nouns that they modify.
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