Adjective Clauses (aka relative clauses)

Part 2: with non-subject pronouns

Review:

Adjective clause: what is it?

Relative pronoun: what is it?

Example sentences:

Amy Tan is a writer. She was born in California.

☞ Make a complex sentence with an adjective clause:

Amy Tan, who was born in California, is a writer.

Subject vs. Object

Subject: Amy Tan is a writer. She was born in California.

Amy Tan, who was born in California, is a writer.

Object: Amy Tan is a writer. I heard her on the radio.

Amy Tan, who(m) I heard on the radio, is a writer.

Object Relative Pronouns

Object relative pronouns include:

Who Whom (formal) That Whose

For people, use “who” or “whom” or “that.”

“Whom” is more formal than “Who”

“Who” is more formal than “That”

For things, use “which” or “that.”

“Which” is more formal than “That”

Sometimes the relative pronoun is optional!

Not using the relative pronoun is the least formal option. This is only possible in restrictive/identifying/necessary clauses You can’t leave out the relative pronoun in nonrestrictive/nonidentifying/ “extra” clauses.

How it works:

Popo told An-Mei stories. An-mei could not understand the stories.

“And she told me stories (that) I could not understand.” (p. 14)

Huang Taitai was the mother of a boy. Lindo would be forced to marry the boy.

“With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy (whom) I would be forced to marry.” (p. 19)

A closer look:

This kind of adjective clause has a different order!

Relative pronoun + subject + verb

Look again:

“And she told me stories (that) I could not understand.” (p. 14)

“With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy (whom) I would be forced to marry.”

Placement

After the independent clause:

Necessary: “I smiled, realizing it was the first time (that) I could

see the power of the wind.” (p. 22)

Necessary + Extra: “I had real thoughts that no one could see, that no one

could ever take away from me.” (p.22)

NOTE: In the “necessary” clauses, the relative pronoun is optional. In the “extra” clauses, you must always use the relative pronoun.

Placement

Inside the independent clause:

Necessary: “Popo said aloud to all who could hear that my

brother and I were eggs laid by a stupid bird…” (p.14)

“Extra”: Popo, with whom we lived, said aloud to all who could

hear… (most formal – preposition first in the clause) Popo, who we lived with, said aloud to all who could

hear… (not as formal –preposition at the end of the clause)

Whose

They were the couple whose candle the servant watched.

She was the girl whose grandmother called her mother a ghost.

“Whose” is not optional.

There are relative adverbs, too.

Adjective clauses with relative adverbs follow similar rules to adjective clauses with relative pronouns.

Instead of describing a noun, they tell us something about place (when they begin with “where”) or something about time (when they begin with “when”).

These clauses do not describe verbs.

When / That

That was a time. + I started to understand him at that time =

“That’s (a time) when I came to understand him.” (p.19)

Same meaning:

That was the time that I came to understand him.

☞ Tricky!

Be sure that the clause describes a noun, not a verb. If the clause describes a verb, it is an adverb clause!

“I watched this same movie when you did not come” (p. 18).

This modifies “watched”, not “movie”, so it is an adverb clause, not an adjective clause.

Where

She took my hand and led me to the sofa, where we sat down together as though we did this every day. (p.17)

Everyone turned to look at the door, where a woman stood. (p.17)

Similarities to other Adj Clauses

The object relative pronoun/relative adverb comes at the beginning of the clause

Object relative pronouns don’t change based on number or gender

The verb in the adjective clause agrees with the subject of the adjective clause (like clauses with “whose”)

Comma rules are the same: use them for “extra” information and don’t use them for necessary information.

Don’t combine object pronouns with object relative pronouns in the same clause

NO: “With her was Huang Taitai, the mother of the boy (whom) I would be forced to marry him.” (p. 19)