Adjective Clauses with Relative Pronouns
Essential Question
How can we give more information about a subject we are writing or talking about?
Grammar in the World
What Do I Know?
Use the interactive below to find out how much you already know about adjective clauses with relative pronouns:
Building Blocks
Grammar is a complex system and structure of language. Mizzou Academy Grammar Lab spotlights one skill (or block) at a time, but it’s often helpful to see how a skill works together with other, related blocks to build the language structure as a whole. You may find the following resource topics helpful as context for this lesson:
Learn About Adjective Clauses with Relative Pronouns
Just reading the words “Adjective Clauses with Relative Pronouns” might make your head spin a bit, so let’s break down each of these pieces before we put it all together again.
As a reminder, adjectives describe nouns and answer three questions.
- Which one? (That candy is my favorite.)
- How much/many? (After I ate three pieces of candy, my stomach hurt.)
- What kind? (I often eat a piece of chocolate candy after dinner.)
Adjective clauses modify another noun or pronoun in the sentence. I thanked the person who bought my coffee at the cafe.
Which person did I thank? The one who bought my coffee at the cafe. “The one who bought my coffee at the cafe” is an adjective clause that modifies “person.”
Adjective clauses with relative pronouns are dependent clauses. A dependent clause has a subject and a predicate but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. In the above sentence, “who bought my coffee at the cafe” has a subject (who) and a verb (bought), but it cannot stand alone.
The word “who” in the above sentence is a relative pronoun that introduces the adjective clause. The relative pronouns are that, where, which, who, whom, and whose. Their uses are explained in the table below:
|
Relative Pronoun |
Refers to |
Replaces |
Example |
Noun or pronoun + relative pronoun modifier |
|
that |
people or things |
subject noun or pronoun (he, she, we, they, it) or object noun or pronoun (him, her, us, them) |
The team that won the most games received a trophy. The team received a trophy. They won the most games. (subject) The team that I love won the most games this season. The team won the most games this season. I love the team. (object) |
“That won the most games” modifies “team.” “That I love” modifies “team.” |
|
where |
places |
there, here |
Dannika works at the coffee shop where I get my favorite coffee drink. Dannika works at the coffee shop. I get my favorite coffee drink there. |
“Where I get my favorite coffee drink” modifies “coffee shop.” |
|
which Preposition + which |
things or animals |
subject noun or pronoun (it, they) or object noun or pronoun (them) |
For my birthday, I received some perfume which smells wonderful. I received some perfume for my birthday. It smells wonderful. (subject) I received some perfume which I love for my birthday. I received some perfume for my birthday. I love it. (object) More formal: The dog with which he played was rambunctious. Less formal: The dog which he played with was rambunctious. |
“Which smells wonderful” modifies “perfume.” “Which I love” modifies “perfume.” “With which he played” or “which he played with” modifies “dog.” |
|
who |
people or animals |
subject noun or pronoun (he, she, we, they) |
We tipped the server who did a great job serving our food at the restaurant. We tipped the server. He did a great job serving our food at the restaurant. |
“Who did a great job” modifies “server.” |
|
whom Preposition + whom |
people or animals people or animals |
object noun or pronoun (him, her, us, them) object noun or pronoun (him, her, us, them) |
Ms. Heter, whom I loved, was my favorite teacher in high school. Ms. Heter was my favorite teacher in high school. I loved her. More formal: The person to whom I was speaking was my favorite teacher in high school. Less formal: The person whom I was speaking to was my favorite teacher in high school. That person was my favorite teacher in high school. I was speaking to her. |
“Whom I loved” modifies “Ms. Heter.” “To whom I was speaking” or “whom I was speaking to” modifies “person.” |
|
whose |
people, animals, or things |
possessive nouns or pronouns (her, his, its, our, their) |
Tomorrow I am going to meet the author whose book inspired me to be a writer. Tomorrow I am going to meet an author. Her book inspired me to be a writer. |
“Whose book inspired me to be a writer” modifies “author.” |
Helpful Tip: An adjective clause with a relative pronoun almost always comes after the noun it modifies.
Do I Get It?
Use the interactive exercises below to test your knowledge of adjective clauses and relative pronouns.
Exercise 1: Read each sentence and choose which word the adjective clause with a relative pronoun (in bold) modifies.
Exercise 2: Read each sentence carefully. Then identify which of the following choices are adjective clauses with relative pronouns.