Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause is a dependent clause that modifies a noun.  It is possible to combine the following two sentences to form one sentence containing an adjective clause:              

    The children are going to visit the museum.
    They are on the bus.

The children who are on the bus are going to visit the museum.
                  | adjective clause |

In the sentence above, there are two other ways to write the sentence correctly using the second sentence as the adjective clause. 

The children that are on the bus are going to visit the museum.
The children       on the bus       are going to visit the museum.

Some other sentences can be combined into a sentence using adjective clauses in a variety of ways, and they are all correct.  Note the variety of ways in which the following two sentences can be combined.

The church is old.
My grandparents were married there.

The church where my grandparents were married is old.
The church in which my grandparents were married is old.
The church which my grandparents were married in is old.
The church that my grandparents were married in is old.
The church my grandparents were married in is old

In the sentences above, the adjective clauses are underlined.  All answers are correct.  Note the use of the word "in" and how and where it is used.

An adjective clause with a subject pronoun - such as which, that or who - can also be shortened into a phrase.

You can shorten an adjective clause in two ways:

1. Omit the subject pronoun and verb.
2. Omit the subject pronoun and change the verb to the form ending in "ing."

Here are some examples of how to create an adjective phrase:

• Adjective Clause: The books, which are lost, are not really necessary.
• Adjective Phrase: The books lost are not really necessary.

• Adjective Clause: The girl who is running is my best friend.
• Adjective Phrase: The girl running is my best friend.

• Adjective Clause: His share of the money, which consists of $100,000, was given to him on Monday.
• Adjective Phrase: His share of the money, consisting of $100,000, was given to him on Monday.

• Adjective Clause: Something that smells bad may be rotten.
• Adjective Phrase: Something smelling bad may be rotten.

Remember, the goal of an adjective clause is to add more information to a noun or a pronoun. You can add the information by including a few more words or by changing the adjective clause to a phrase.