The ESL HELP! Desk

What Is an Adjective Clause?

An adjective clause is a clause that provides additional information about a noun.

• Wherever I went, I saw people who spoke different languages.

How Can I Identify an Adjective Clause?

An adjective clause always begins with a relative pronoun. The relative pronouns are who, that, whose, when, where, which, and whom.

CLICK HERE for a chart of the relative pronouns and their uses.

The relative pronouns are pronouns because they substitute for a noun and they are called relative pronouns because they connect, or relate, one complete idea or sentence with another.

Exercise 3   For the following sentences, place the correct relative pronoun from the list above in each blank.

1.  Kate was like so many women __________ can love and be hurt and then forgive.

2.    My uncle, __________ whose two children are ten and twelve years old respectively, had to raise his children on his own.

3.  Then everybody goes to a party, __________ live music is performed.

4.  People must always remember those __________ died in the war.

5.  The concrete-operational stage in human development is a time __________ a person's thinking is limited to concrete matters.

Next...  How to Combine Sentences

In our next lesson, we will look at how to combine sentences to create an adjective clause.

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