Adjectival (Relative) Clause

📝 Understanding Adjectival (Relative) Clauses 🎨

Following on from our previous discussion about sentences and clauses, let’s dive into a specific and very useful type of clause: the Adjectival (Relative) Clause!

1. Quick Recap: Sentence vs. Clause 🤔🔗

• Sentence 🧱: A fundamental structural unit that helps us communicate. It must have a subject and a predicate, where the predicate contains the verb and all related information. A simple sentence is an independent clause and can stand alone.
  • Example: “Everyone needs a coach”.
• Clause 🧩: A sentence-like structure embedded within a larger (matrix) sentence. It also contains its own subject and predicate but does not have independent status on its own.
  • Clauses are often referred to as subordinate or dependent clauses when they are embedded.

2. What is an Adjectival (Relative) Clause? 🎨

An Adjectival Clause, also known as a Relative Clause, is a type of subordinate clause with a specific function:

• Function: It works like an adjective. Its purpose is to modify a noun, providing additional information or details about that noun. It can often be replaced by a simple adjective.
• Placement: Structurally, adjectival clauses typically appear to the right of the noun they modify. This is a key distinction from simple adjectives, which usually precede the noun they modify in English.
• Common Starters: Many adjectival clauses begin with ‘wh-type’ words, also known as relative pronouns, such as ‘which’, ‘where’, ‘who’, or ’that’.
  • These words have a dual function: they can be question words or relative pronouns. When they introduce a subordinate clause, they function as relative pronouns, referring back to the noun they modify.
    • ‘Who’ is used for people.
    • ‘Which’ is used for things.
    • ‘That’ can be used for both things or people, though ‘who’ is more common for people.
• Role in Complex Sentences: When an independent (main) clause contains one or more adjectival clauses (or other subordinate clauses), the sentence becomes a complex sentence.

3. Illustrative Examples from the Sources 💡

Let’s look at how these clauses work in sentences:

• Example 1: “He was at his desk in his room, which was only a corner in his father’s dressing room.”

  • The bolded part is an adjectival clause.
  • It starts with “which”.
  • Function: It describes the “room” (a noun). We could simplify it to “his corner room”.
  • Main Clause: “He was at his desk in his room”.

• Example 2: “We all need people who will give us feedback.”

  • The bolded part is an example of a relative clause.
  • It starts with “who”.
  • Function: It modifies the noun “people” by telling us what kind of people are needed.

• Example 3: “D. Pillai who had earned a name in the school for kindness and good humour.”

  • The bolded part is a subordinate adjectival clause.
  • It starts with “who”.
  • Function: It qualifies the noun “D. Pillai”.

• Example 4: “There were moments in it that brought stirring pictures before one.”

  • The bolded part is a subordinate adjectival clause.
  • It starts with “that”.
  • Function: It qualifies the noun “moments”.

• Example 5 (Adjectival modifying a subject noun): “Raju who lives in Chennai is a teacher of English.”

  • The bolded part is a relative clause.
  • Function: It describes Raju, the subject noun.

• Example 6 (Adjectival modifying an adjunct noun): “Raju is a teacher in Chennai, which is the capital of Tamil Nadu.”

  • The bolded part is an adjectival clause.
  • Function: It describes the city “Chennai,” which is a noun in the adjunct position.

4. Adjectives vs. Adjectival Clauses: A Key Difference ↔️

• Adjectives: Typically precede the noun they modify (e.g., “a corner room,” “a big room,” “a small room”).
• Adjectival Clauses: Always follow the noun they modify (e.g., “the room which was only a corner…”).

5. Why Understanding This Matters 🎯

• Building Larger Sentences: Understanding adjectival clauses enables you to build, comprehend, and produce larger, more sophisticated sentences.
• Clarity and Impact: It enhances your ability to convey messages with greater impact and clarity, making your communication more effective and impressive.
• Accuracy: This insight into sentence structure improves your accuracy in English.

✍️ Practice Questions

1. Identify the adjectival clause in the following sentence. State the noun it modifies and the relative pronoun used. a) “The book that I am reading is very interesting.”

2. Explain why the underlined part of the sentence is an adjectival clause and not just a simple adjective: “I saw the dog that barked loudly.”

3. Combine the two simple sentences into one complex sentence using an adjectival clause: a) “The old car is parked outside.” + “It belongs to my neighbour.”

✅ Answers

1. Identification: a) “The book that I am reading is very interesting.”

   • Adjectival Clause: “that I am reading”
   • Noun Modified: “book”
   • Relative Pronoun: “that”

2. Explanation:

   • “I saw the dog that barked loudly.”
   • The underlined part is an adjectival clause because it contains a subject (“that” acting as a relative pronoun for “dog”) and a predicate (“barked loudly”). It functions like an adjective by describing the “dog”.
   • It is not a simple adjective because it contains a full verb (“barked”) and acts as a sentence-like structure embedded within the larger sentence. A simple adjective would be, for example, “the loud dog” or “the barking dog”.

3. Sentence Combination: a) “The old car that is parked outside belongs to my neighbour.” (or “The old car which is parked outside belongs to my neighbour.”)