Adjective Clauses and Relative Pronouns: Grammar for Everyday English

Hi everyone! It's Jennifer. I wanted to show you the snow outside my home.

The ground is already covered with snow,

but the trees are waiting for the next snowfall, which is coming tomorrow.

Then it will be a world of white! The trees are especially pretty when there's snow on the branches.

Do you see that shorter tree? Do you know which one I'm talking about?

It's the one that's closest to our driveway. It has a swing on it.

My daughter likes swinging there in warmer weather.

We can use adjective clauses after nouns and pronouns. I used an adjective clause in this sentence:

Which relative pronoun did I use?

That.

Could I use another relative pronoun?

Yes, I could also use "which." It's the one which is closest to our driveway.

But the relative pronoun "that" is more common in spoken English and in everyday exchanges.

Let's switch back to the more common wording:

In this complex sentence, do you see the two clauses?

Here's the main clause and

here's the adjective clause.

Remember each clause has its own subject and verb.

The relative pronoun can be the subject of the adjective clause.

Now here's a really important question. Would my sentence make sense without the adjective clause?

No. The meaning wouldn't be clear.

Sometimes we need an adjective clause to identify a noun or pronoun.

In this example, it's the tree. There are many trees around my home. Which one am I talking about?

It's the one that's closest to our driveway.

Grammar textbooks use different terms for these adjective clauses with essential information

They call them

restrictive clauses...

defining clauses...

identifying clauses.

Here's what you need to know. If the adjective clause has information that's necessary to identify the head noun,

you don't need commas.

Okay. Let's look at another example.

It's not getting much use right now.

Which relative pronoun did I use this time?

"Which." It makes sense, right?

We use the relative pronoun "which" to refer to things.

In this sentence, our head noun is a tree swing, a thing.

Could I also use "that" in this adjective clause?

No. Let me help you understand why.

Does this sentence make sense without the adjective clause?

My daughter has a tree swing.

Yes. It makes sense. So I've only added extra information.

It's unnecessary. We don't need it to identify the tree swing, do we?

This is what some call a non-identifying adjective clause.

Here's what you need to know about these kinds of adjective clauses with additional information.

In writing, we need to set it off with commas.

In speaking, we change our pitch. Our voice usually drops a bit when we add this information.

Listen.

We can't use the relative pronoun "that" in a non-identifying adjective clause.

So only WHO and WHICH can help us add non-essential information about the head noun

How about you create an example of an adjective clause?

Tell me about something inside or outside your home.

So write a complex sentence with one adjective clause.

Think carefully about whether your adjective clause has essential information to identify a head noun

or if it just adds information that we don't really need.

Then you'll need commas. I'll offer corrections as time allows, but I encourage you to help one another.

Read comments that other people post.

If it helps, remember that a complex sentence has two ideas. So write two ideas and then join them.

Here's my example:

How do I join them? Well. I'll identify my head noun,

choose a relative pronoun,

and decide if this adjective clause presents essential or additional information.

So is a comma necessary?

Yes.

That's all for now. If you find it helpful to study grammar with me, then please remember to like this video.

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