ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

Submitted by :

Tisya Anandia Fonna

The Student of English Department
Tarbiyah Faculty
140203111

TARBIYAH FACULTY
STATE INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES OF AR - RANIRY
DARUSSALAM BANDA ACEH
BANDA ACEH
2015/ 2016

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

English is the language used by almost every person in the world. Today, English
becomes an important languange. English language is not only used to talk to the native
speaker, but also used to requirement to enter a work. Both children and adult must learn
about English. To be good in English, we have to learn about grammar. Grammar is a very
important things in English. We use grammar when we speak and write something. There is
many things that discussed in grammar. In this paper, the thing that i want to discuss is about
adjective clause. Adjective clause is a very important discussion because it is very often used
both in conversation and writing of English. In this paper, I will attempt to explain a little bite
about the adjective clause.

CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. DEFINISION OF ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

A clause is a structure that has a subject and a verb. There are two kinds of clauses:
independent and dependent. Both of them have different forms. An independent clause is a
main clause and can stand alone as a sentence. While a dependent clause cannot stand alone
as a sentence; it must connected to an independent clause.
Adjective clause is a group of words which contains a subject and predicate of its
own, and does the work of an adjective .1 In an adjective clause, a full subject and predicate is
changed by means of a special introductory word which has the same referent as the
preceding noun or pronoun.2 An adjective clause modifies a noun. It describes or gives
information about a noun. It follows a noun.3 The normal position of anadjective clause
isimmediately after the noun or pronoun towhich it refers.
e.g: - I met a man who is a kind to everybody.
- I met a man who is famous poet.
- I met a man who lives in Chicago.
Words that usually introduce adjective clauses are the following:4

Who; refers to people as a subject pronoun.

Whom; refers to people as an object pronoun.

1 Imam Baehaqi, PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR, (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Belajar,

2006). Page 181.
2 Marcella Frank, MODERN ENGLISH (a practical reference guide), (United States
of America: PRENTICE-HALL, INC.,1972). Page 276.
3 Betty Schramfer Azar, FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. (United States
of America: Longman, 1999). Page 343.
4 Lorraince Nichols Pratt, Grammar step-by-step volume 2. (Jakarta Barat:
Binarupa Aksara, 1993). Page 158

Which; refers to things.

That; refers to either people or things.
Whose; is used to show possession.
Where; is used in an adjective clause to modify a place (city, country, room,

house, etc.).
When; is used in an adjective clause to modify a noun of time (year, day, time,
century, etc.).

B. USING ADJECTIVE CLAUSE

1. Using who in adjective clause5
e.g: The man is friendly. He lives next to me.
In the example, He is a subject pronoun. He refers to the man. To make an adjective
clause, change he to who. Who refers to people as a subject pronoun. So, the sentence
is: The man who lives next to me is friendly. An adjective clause immediately follows
the noun it modifies.
2. Using whom in adjective clause
e.g: The manwas friendly. I met him.
In the example, him is an object pronoun. Him refers to the man. To make an
adjective clause, change him to whom. Whom refers to people as a object pronoun.
So, the sentence is: The man whom I met was friendly. An adjective clause
immediately follows the noun it modifies.
3. Using which in adjective clause
e.g: (a) The river is polluted. It flows through the town.
(b) The books were expensive. I bought them.
In adjective clause, which can use both a subject and an object pronoun. In (a), It is a
subject pronoun. It refers to the river. To make an adjective clause, change it to
which. Which refers to things. So, the sentence is: The man which flows through the
town is polluted. While in (b), them is an object pronoun. To make an adjective
clause, change them to which. So, the sentence is: The books which I bought were
expensive.
4. Using that in adjective clause
e.g:
(a) The man who lives next to me is friendly.
(b) The man whom I met was friendly.
(c) The man which flows through the town is polluted.
(d) The books which I bought were expensive.
Different from who,whom, and which, that can refers to either people or things. We
can change who,whom, and which to that. They still have the same meaning
5 Betty Schramfer Azar, FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. (United States
of America: Longman, 1999). Page 344-355.

eventhough they change. So,the sentences are: (a) The man that lives next to me is
friendly. (b) The man that I met was friendly. (c) The man that flows through the town
is polluted. (d) The books that I bought were expensive.
5. Using whose in adjective clause
e.g:
(a) The man called the police. His car was stolen.
(b) The people were friendly. We bought their house.
Whose is used to show possession. It carries the same meaning as other possessive
pronouns used as adjectives: his, her, its, and their. To make an adjective clause,
change his and their to whose. So, the sentences are: (a) The man whose car was
stolen called the police. (b) The people whose house we bought were friendly.
6. Using where in adjective clause6
e.g: The building isvery old. He lives there (in that building).
Where is used in an adjective clause to modify a place (city, country, room, house,
etc.). If where is used, a preposition is not include in the adjective clause. To make an
adjective clause, change there to where and reduce the preposition. So, the sentence
is: The building where he lives is very old.
7. Using when in adjective clause
e.g: Ill never forget the day. I met you then (on that day).
When is used in an adjective clause to modify a noun of time (year, day, time,
century, etc.). To make an adjective clause, change then to when. So, the sentence is:
Ill never forget the day when I met you.

C. REDUCING AJECTIVE CLAUSE TO ADJECTIVE PHRASE

A clause is a group of related words that contains a subject and a verb. While, a phrase is
a group of related words that does not contain a subject and a verb. Adjective clause can be
reduced to adjective phrases under certain grammatical conditions. Adjective phrase is a
reduction ofan adjective clause. It modifies a noun. It does not contain a subject and a verb.7
e.g:The girl who is sitting next to me is Mai. (Clause)
The girl sitting next to me is Mai. (Phrase)

6 Betty S. Azar and Stacy A. Hagen, Understanding and Using English Grammar.
(United States of America: Longman, 2009). Page 279-280.
7 Betty S. Azar and Stacy A. Hagen, Understanding and Using English Grammar.
(United States of America: Longman, 2009). Page 294.

To modifying adjective phrases, only adjective clauses that have a subject pronoun
who, which, or that can be reduced.
There are many ways in which an adjective clause is changed to an adjective phrase.
There are:
1. If the adjective clause contains the be form of a verb, omit the subject pronoun
and the be form.
e.g:
The man who is talking to John is from Korea. (Clause)
The man talking to John is from Korea. (Phrase)
2. If there is no be form of a verb in the adjective clause, it is sometimes possible to
omit the subject pronoun and change the verb to its ing form.
e.g:
Anyone who wants to come with us is welcome. (Clause)
Anyone wanting to come with us is welcome. (Phrase)

CHAPTER III
CLOSING

A. CONCLUSION
A clause is a structure that has a subject and a verb. There are two kinds of
clauses: independent and dependent. Adjective clause is a group of words which contains
a subject and predicate of its own, and does the work of an adjective . An adjective clause
modifies a noun. It describes or gives information about a noun. It follows a noun. The
normal position of anadjective clause isimmediately after the noun or pronoun towhich it
refers.Words that usually introduce adjective clauses are who, whom, which, that, whose,

where, and when. Who; refers to people as a subject pronoun.Whom refers to people as an
object pronoun.Which refers to things. That refers to either people or things.Whose is
used to show posession. Where is used in an adjective clause to modify a place (city,
country, room, house, etc.). When is used in an adjective clause to modify a noun of time
(year, day, time, century, etc.). Adjective clause can be reduced to adjective phrases under
certain grammatical conditions. Adjective phrase is a reduction ofan adjective clause. It
modifies a noun. It does not contain a subject and a verb.

REFERENCE

Imam Baehaqi. 2006. PRACTICAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Belajar.

Marcella Frank. 1972. MODERN ENGLISH (a practical reference guide). United States of
America: PRENTICE-HALL, INC..
Betty Schramfer Azar. 1999. FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. United States of
America: Longman.
Lorraince Nichols Pratt. 1993. Grammar step-by-step volume 2. Jakarta Barat: Binarupa
Aksara.

Betty S. Azar and Stacy A. Hagen. 2009. Understanding and Using English Grammar.
United States of America: Longman.