Look at the words in italics in the following sentences.
1. The boys in the gallery could not hear. [Which boys?]
2. The boys who were in the gallery could not hear. [Which boys?]
The first group of words, in the gallery, describes the boys. That is, it qualifies the Noun boys and does the work of an Adjective. It is therefore an Adjective Phrase. The second group of words, who were in the gallery, also describes the boys and so does the work of an Adjective. But since it has a Subject and a Predicate of its own, it is a Clause of Adjective.
Again the Adjective Phrase (in the gallery) is equivalent in meaning to the Clause of Adjective (who were in the gallery) and can therefore be replaced by it.
1) The boy who is walking there is my sister’s son.
2) My sister studies in the school where I studied.
An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun or pronoun. Clauses of Adjective begin with the following words.
1. That
2. When
3. Where
4. Who
5. Whom
6. Whose
7. Which
8. Why
Sample Sentences :
1) He is the teacher who helped me with my science lessons.
2) The heavy rain is the reason why I decided to take leave today.
3) Raja is the person whose family owns a beach-house.
4) There is a big park where we can walk freely.
5) Do you remember the time when we almost missed our math teacher?
6) He is the boy whom we taught when we were in Chennai.
7) He has to take his car that he bought in Mumbai.
8) Monday is the day when he has his doctor’s appointment.
9) The man who lives across the street is my uncle.
10) The mobile-phone that is on the chair belongs to John.
11) I do not love the people who are cruel to animals.
12) Did your sister go to the school where my brother goes?
13) The moment when the joker burst in to surprise the teacher was great!
14) The reason why he left is a secret.
15) Can you see the bird that is sitting on the fence?
16) The cat that they are watching just caught a mouse!
17) The boy whose books are on the floor is my little brother.
18) I like pizza which is also the favorite food of my brother John.
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...
Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?
Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.