Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses, also called relative clauses, give more information about a noun.

Who, Which, And That

Noun	Relative pronoun	Example
people	who / that	The woman who called is my aunt.
things	which / that	The book that you lent me is excellent.
animals	which / that	The dog that lives next door is friendly.

Subject And Object Clauses

When the relative pronoun is the subject, do not leave it out.

The man who lives upstairs is a doctor.

When the relative pronoun is the object, it can often be omitted.

The person who I met was kind.

The person I met was kind.

Whose And Where

Use whose for possession.

I met a student whose father teaches here.

Use where for places.

This is the cafe where we first met.

Extra Information Clauses

Use commas when the clause gives extra, non-essential information.

My sister, who lives in Canada, is visiting next week.

Do not use that in extra information clauses.

Correct: My car, which is ten years old, still runs well.

Incorrect: My car, that is ten years old, still runs well.

Common Mistakes

Avoid	Use
The man which called	The man who called
The place which we met	The place where we met
My brother, that lives here,	My brother, who lives here,

Practice

1 / 12

The woman ___ helped me was very kind.

AwhereBwhoCwhichDthat

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Summary

Use adjective clauses to describe nouns. Use who for people, which for things, that for defining clauses, whose for possession, and where for places. Use commas for extra information clauses, and avoid that in those comma clauses.