When To Use Adjective Clause?Facts Most Beginner’s Don’t Know

When to use adjective clause and related FAQS in this article will make your understanding about ‘Adjective Clause’ easy and concrete.

The clause which connects itself to the main independent clause with the help of some particular relative pronoun and works as an adjective is called an ‘Adjective Clause’.

How to use adjective clause?

We can use ‘Adjective Clause’ in the following ways.

First, to make the dependent clause works as an ‘Adjective Clause’.

Second, to connect the dependent clause with the independent clause to enhance quality or meaning of the noun, pronoun, noun group or noun equivalent of the dependent clause.

Third, the connector of dependent adjective clause and independent clause must be a ‘Relative Pronoun’.

Example – Tell me the place where we can offer classes and food for orphans.

Explanation – Here, the connector ‘where’ is connecting the adjective clause ‘we can offer classes and food for orphans’ with the main clause to give information about a particular place.

Why to use adjective clause?

Another name of ‘Adjective Clause’ is ‘Relative Clause’. As the alternate name suggests, adjective clause qualify, modify, and enhance a noun, pronoun or noun equivalent. The noun, pronoun or noun equivalent whose quality is enhanced or modified by an adjective clause in a particular sentence is called ‘Antecedent’ of that particular adjective clause.

Example – I know the boy who illegally distributed ration among villagers of my village.

Explanation – Here, the adjective clause is modifying the word ‘boy’. Thus, the word group ‘I know the boy’ is called antecedent of the adjective clause ‘who illegally distributed ration among villagers of my village.’

Where to use adjective clause?

We can use adjective clause in the following situations, like;

First, to modify the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent of the independent clause.

Second, to qualify the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent of the independent clause.

Third, to describe the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent of the independent clause.

Fourth, To give information about  the noun, pronoun or noun equivalent of the independent clause.

Example – I know the reason why Pijush went to see the football match of our society.

Explanation – Here, the connector ‘why’ is in use as relative pronoun to connect the adjective clause ‘Pijush went to see the football match of our society.’ With the independent clause ‘I know the reason’.

Types of adjective clause –

Adjective Clause or Relative Clause can be divided in two different kinds.

First Kind, Restrictive Adjective Clause

Second Kind, Non-Restrictive Adjective Clause.

Restrictive Adjective Clause – A restrictive adjective clause can be also named as ‘Essential Adjective Clause’ because a restrictive adjective clause cannot be removed from a sentence as it particular modifies its antecedent with limited word group.

Example – I know the place where the murder had been taken place.

Explanation – Here the ‘Restrictive Adjective Clause’ is ‘where the murder had been taken place’. It is modifying the independent clause ‘I know the place’. The second clause cannot be removed as it is mandatory to give information about the antecedent ‘the place’. We must also keep in mind that we must not put comma between restrictive adjective clause and its antecedent.

Non-Restrictive Adjective Clause – A non-restrictive adjective clause can be also named as ‘Non-Essential Adjective Clause’. A non-restrictive clause is not that much necessary to add in the main independent clause. We can opt to cut off the non-restrictive adjective clause and this cut off will not change the meaning of the main independent clause. We must keep in mind that non-restrictive clause must be separated with the main independent clause with a comma at the starting of the non-restrictive clause and at the ending of the non-restrictive clause.

Example – The tenant, who works as school teacher, is going to leave this room.

Explanation – Here, the antecedent is ‘tenant’ and the non-restrictive adjective clause is ‘who works as a school teacher’. Now, we can see that non-restrictive clause ‘who works as school teacher is separated from the main clause ‘is going to leave this room’ with a comma. We can opt to cut off this particular non-restrictive adjective clause without changing the meaning of the main clause ‘The tenant is going to leave this room’.

How to identify adjective clause?

We can identify a clause as adjective clause in the following situations.

  1. First Identification – The clause must be working as an adjective which modify, qualify, describe noun, pronoun or noun equivalent.
  2. Second Identification – That particular clause must connect the noun or pronoun of the sentence with any of the following relative pronouns to declare itself as an ‘Adjective Clause’.

First connector is ‘Who’. ‘Who’ works  as a connector in the case of living being.

Second connector is ‘Whom’. ‘Whom’ works as a connector in the case of living being.

Third connector is ‘Whose’. ‘Whose’ works as a connector in the case of living being.

Fourth connector is ‘Which’. ‘Which’ works as a connector in the case of non- living being.

Fifth connector is ‘Of which’. ‘Of which’ works as a connector in the case of non- living being.

Sixth connector is ‘that’. ‘That’ works  as a connector in the case of delivering a statement.

Seventh connector is ‘that’. ‘That’ works as a connector in the case of both living and non-living noun and noun equivalent.

Eighth connector is ‘why’. ‘Why’ works as a connector where we need to serve a statement to qualify any reason or purpose in the main independent clause.

Ninth connector is ‘where’.  ‘Where’ works as a connector where we need to serve a statement to qualify any place of the main independent clause.

Tenth  connector is ‘when’.  ‘When’ works as a connector where we need to serve a statement to qualify any particular time of the main independent clause.

Example – This is the book which I have bought from library to prepare my research topic.

Explanation – Here, the relative pronoun ‘which’ works as a connector to connect the adjective clause about the non-living object ‘book’.

  • 3. Third Identification – Now, we must check the function of that particular clause. If the clause functions as an adjective then we can declare it  as ‘adjective clause’.

Reduced adjective clause-

An adjective clause becomes a ‘Reduced Adjective Clause’ when it become an ‘Adjective Phrase’ from an ‘Adjective Clause’.

A reduced adjective phrase cannot have two main parts of any sentence. They are

First, Subject of a sentence.

Second, Verb of a sentence.

A reduced adjective phrase should have following features.

First, A ‘Reduced Adjective Phrase’ must have base form of the verb +ing in the case of ‘Active Voice’.

Second, A ‘Reduced Adjective Phrase’ must have past participle form of the  verb +ing in the case of ‘Passive Voice’.

Example of ‘Adjective Clause’ – I saw a woman trying to wear high heel shoe.

Example of ‘Reduced Adjective Clause’ –  ‘trying to wear high heel shoe.’

Conclusion

Connectors of both the ‘Noun Clause’ and ‘Adjective Clause’ are same. Thus, we can differentiated between noun clause and adjective clause with the help of antecedent. A ‘Noun Clause’ never has an antecedent, while an ‘Adjective Clause’ always placed after an antecedent.