Adjectival Clauses

Adjective clauses placement:

**Main clause + relative pronoun

They met a woman [who teaches psychology].

I have read everything [that discusses the recent technology in medicine.]

** Important point.

They met a woman.

The woman teaches psychology.

They met a woman who teaches psychology.

The woman is a writer.

The woman teaches psychology.

The woman who teaches psychology is a writer.

** Relative Pronouns: who, which, that, whom, whose.

I have a friend.

My friend loves to talk. (who)

I have a friend who/that loves to talk.

I bought a book.

The book is related to medicine.

I bought a book which/that is related to medicine.

** whose: her, his, their.

I met a girl.

Her father was a doctor. (whose)

I met a girl whose father was a doctor.

** Whom: Used for people as objectives.

The candidate got the job.

The interviewers admired him.

The candidate whom the interviewers admired got the job.

The English teacher teaches me English.

Mr. Brown suggested her.

The English teacher whom Mr. Brown suggested teaches me English.

The girl is standing next to the window.

I love her.

The girl whom I love is standing next to the window.

** Who or whom? (Whom: to who)

Jack is a doctor.

He works hard.

Jack is a doctor who works hard.

Mary is interesting.

I like her a lot.

Mary, whom I like a lot, is interesting.

** Where: place

I remember the café.

I met her in this café.

I remember the café where I met her.

** When: Time.

I remember the day.

I kissed her for the first time on that day.

I remember the day when I kissed her for the first time.

** Non-defining: Gives extra information. “That” cannot be used in a non-defining clause.

Jack, who works in a hospital, is a womanizer.

Jack is a doctor, who is from Adana.

** leave out or not leave out. If the relative pronoun is the subject of the sentence, don’t omit it. If the relative pronoun is the object of the sentence, omit it.

Alan is a teacher.

He works at a university. (who)

Alan is a teacher [who works at a university].

Alan lives in Istanbul. 

He likes Apples. (who)

Alan [who likes apples] lives in Istanbul.

This is a house.

My father bought it for me. (Which, that)

This is a house (that) my father bought for me.

This is a house my father bought for me.

What is the name of the film?

We saw the film yesterday. (that)

What is the name of the film that we saw yesterday?

What is the name of the film we saw yesterday?

 Alan is a teacher whom Jack likes.

Adjective clauses with prepositions, quantifiers, or nouns.

** Prepositions

He is a doctor.

I was talking to him yesterday.

He is a doctor to whom I was talking. (Who-whom)

This is the hospital.

He works for the hospital. (that)

This is the hospital that he works for.

This is the hospital for which he works. (That-which)

Jack got the job.

He had been applying for the job. (that)

Jack got the job that he had been applying for.

Jack got the job for which he had been applying. (That-which)

Adjective clauses with quantifiers.

Main clauses + quantifier (all, most, a number, some, a few, several, a couple) + of + whom/which/whose.

I have many friends. (who)

All of my friends are actors.

I have many friends who all of are actors.

I have many friends, all of whom are actors.

I was in a lot of movies. (which)

Some of the movies were successful.

I was in a lot of movies, some of which were successful.

That is a film.

A couple of actors got awards. (whose)

That is a film, a couple of whose actors got awards.

Adjective clauses with nouns.

Main clauses, noun+ of + which

He makes comedy.

An episode of comedy was sold expensively.

He makes comedy, an episode of which was sold expensively.

I love that series.

She directed an episode of it.

I love that series, an episode of which she directed.

** Adjective Clause vs. adjective phrases.

He is a doctor.

The doctor is working in this hospital.

He is a doctor who is working in this hospital.

He is a doctor working in this hospital.

It is a love story.

The love story takes place in Rome.

It is a love story that takes place in Rome.

It is a love story taking place in Rome.