6

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 2006. Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

History 101
Okay, Oh, IShes a Shes thewhosewho start studying for our She discovered a woman lets answers. Okay, next know. scientist element of Wow. Good history1903. Whatask a question, and exam. discoveries have Prize in affected Ill did she discover? radium, which isgreatly question. Who was Gandhi? won the Nobel used in X-rays. is Marie Curie? Who the medical field. you tell me the answer.

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, Gandhi was a man who worked for peace. which is in Western India.
The clause The clause who worked for peace which is in Western India identifies the man we are gives additional talking about. information about Gujarat.

Adjective Clauses 2
Adjective clauses can also identify or describe indefinite pronouns such as one, someone, somebody, something, another, and other(s).

someone George Washington Carver is someone who was a famous botanist.

The adjective clause directly follows the noun (or pronoun) it is identifying.

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

+ =

Beethoven was aFlorence Nightingale was a nurse who composer whose music is still enjoyed by many people. developed modern healthcare methods.

Relative Pronouns 1
Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns. Subject relative pronouns can be who, that, which, and whose.
Use whose to refer to Abraham Lincolnis a painting which The Mona Lisa was an American peoples possessions. fought against slavery. president who

is known throughout the world.

Thomas Edison, whose inventions The Mona Lisa was an American Abraham Lincolnis a painting that changed the world, was born in 1847. is known throughout the world. president that fought against slavery.
Use That is less formal than to Use which or that to refer who or that to who places or and used and which refer to people. things. more in conversation.

OR

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.

Practice 1

Combine the groups of sentences into one sentence with an adjective clause. Use the appropriate relative pronouns.

Example: Example: a) Albert Einstein was aaphysicist. who/that Albert Einstein was physicist
won the Nobel Prize in in Physics 1921. b) He won the Nobel Prize Physics in in 1921.

1. a) Ang San Su Kyi is a Burmesepeace activist in Myanmar peace activist in Myanmar. Ang San Su Kyi Albert Einstein was a physicist who won is a Burmese which is a country Nobel in Southeast Asia.1921. b) Myanmar is a thelocatedPrize in Southeast Asia. country located in Physics in

OR 2. a) Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter. Diego Rivera was a Mexican painter whose work is Albert in many famous displayed is displayed Einstein was a museums. b) His workin many famous museums. physicist that won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921.
3. a) Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun. Mother Teresa was a Catholic nun who/that devoted her
life to devoted b) She the poor.her life to the poor.

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.

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

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

Two Kinds of Adjective Clauses

There are two kinds of adjective clauses, identifying and nonidentifying.

The adjective clause The books which are on identifies which books the the table belong to me. sentence talks about.

The adjective clause is not The books,to identify the which are on necessary the table, belong to me. which books are referred to.

Commas
A nonidentifying adjective clause is separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Do not use commas with an identifying adjective clause.

The map, which is on Nonidentifying Adjective the table, is new. Clause

Identifying The map which is on the Adjective table is new. Clause

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 Marie Curie, that won the Nobel Prize, of the Olympics, is in Greece. radium. discovered Athens, which is theMarie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize, birthplace of the Olympics, is in Greece. radium. discovered

Practice 2
Example:

Find and correct the errors in the adjective clauses of the sentences. Discuss your answers with a partner.

Italy, which is the birthplace of opera, is a that is the birthplace of opera, is a fascinating country.

1. Louis Armstrong was a famous American musician who he made jazz popular. 2. Frida Kahlo, whose paintings have recently become wellhas recently become wellknown, was a Mexican painter. 3. Nelson Mandela, who lives in South Africa, fought against live in South Africa, fought against apartheid.

4. Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian author which writes novels who writes novels about village life.
5. Valentina Tereshkova ,who was the first woman to travel into space, is Russian.

References
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