Sentence
types:
*simple
sentences SV SSV
SVV SSVV Imperative
Interrogative
*compound
sentence SV, SOBA SV. SV; TRANS, SV.
*complex
sentence -adverb clauses because
if when since as
-noun
clauses
-adjective
clauses
*Adverb
clauses, noun clauses, and adjective clause are the three types of subordinate
clauses/dependent clauses.
Adjective
clauses describe nouns. Adjective clauses have subjects and verbs like all
clauses.
Adjective clauses usually use these three words: who, that, which. 90% of the time you will be using who, that, which.
There are other words such as whom, whose, where
which are not used as often. In fact, whom is very rarely used except in
the most formal English.
* ‘who’ is used for people
Examples of adjective clauses with
‘who’
Mei’s sister who is a nurse lives in Burnaby. COMPLEX adjective
clause
Two pieces of information, two clauses
in the sentence
1
Mei’s sister 2
who is a nurse lives
in Burnaby.
1 Mei’s sister lives in Burnaby.
2 who
is a nurse
OPTIONS
Mei’s sister who is a nurse lives in Burnaby.
Mei’s sister who lives in Burnaby is a nurse.
What is a doctor? question- simple
sentence
A doctor is a person who helps
patients.
Sarah quit her job. SIMPLE SENT
Sarah who was working as a cashier
quit her job. COMPLEX SENT
who was
working as a cashier adjective clause
Michelle is my friend. SIMPLE SENT
Michelle who has a red car is my
friend. COMPLEX SENT
who has
a red car adjective clause
Michelle who is my best friend has
a red car.
*’that’ for a person, sounds not as
nice, not as respectful
*’that’ is used for things and animals.
Examples of adjective clauses with
‘that’
Jun’s new phone that he got for his
birthday has a great camera.
Jun’s new phone has a great camera that
can shoot 4K video.
Mary has a dog that is very
obedient.
The cat that has white paws and brown ears is very cute.
*An adjective clause comes after a
noun.
The water bottle that** is on the table was a
gift from my son.
**’that’ is used a lot in English for
many different purposes
We planted some
pumpkins that grew really big.
The pumpkins that he planted grew
really big.
**I teach this extensively in WI567.
My teacher, whose name is Ellen,
is old. adj cl
My teacher, who is Ellen,
is old. an appositive (EF7)
**Commas sometimes go around adjective
clauses. (EF7)
*’Which’ is used for special or unique
things.
She loves her diamond earrings which
she inherited from her grandmother.
She likes the earrings that she got
from Amazon.
The Mona Lisa, which is in the
Louvre, is the one of the most famous paintings in the world.
She is from Dongguan, which is in
south China.
The Eiffel Tower, which is in Paris,
was the tallest iron building in the world when it was completed in 1889.
**
These are some less used words for
adjective clauses.
-where
Mei visited the city where she was
born.
-whose- possessive, own something,
belongs to
The boy whose dog ran away was
happy when he came back.
-whom (formal, not often used)
The elderly woman whom you
met last night was a famous broadcaster.
This is a good EF56-level understanding
of adjective clauses. In Writing Improvement 567 and EF7, I will go into much
more detail including comma usage, subject and object pronouns, and restrictive
and non-restrictive clauses.
