Adjective Clause - Definition, Formation, Types, Usage & Examples

All of you must have surely come across adjectives if you have already learnt about parts of speech. Have you heard of adjective phrases and adjective clauses? Just like adjectives, both adjective phrases and adjective clauses modify the noun/noun phrase in the sentence. In this article, you will be introduced to what an adjective clause is, its definition, how they are formed, the difference between an adjective, an adjective clause and an adjective phrase. Furthermore, go through the examples given and try to analyse how it works.

Table of Contents

• What Is an Adjective Clause?
  • Definition of an Adjective Clause
• Forming and Using Adjective Clauses – Key Points to Remember
• Types of Adjective Clauses
  • The Essential Adjective Clause
  • The Non-Essential Adjective Clause
• Difference between an Adjective, an Adjective Phrase and an Adjective Clause
• Examples of Adjective Clauses
• Check Your Understanding of Adjective Clauses
• Frequently Asked Questions on Adjective Clauses

What Is an Adjective Clause?

A clause, as you already know, contains multiple words including a noun/pronoun and/or a verb. If that is what a clause means, can you guess what an adjective clause would refer to? An adjective clause is a dependent clause that acts just like an adjective in the sentence. It is also referred to as relative clauses.

Take a look at the following definitions of adjective clauses to develop a better idea of what they are.

Definition of an Adjective Clause

The Collins Dictionary defines an adjective clause as “a relative clause that modifies a noun or pronoun, as who saw us in It was she who saw us”, and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an adjective clause as “an clause introduced by a relative pronoun expressed or suppressed, relative adjective, or relative adverb and having either a purely descriptive force (as in John, who often tells fibs) or a limiting one (as in boys who tell fibs)”. According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, a relative clause is one “referring to an earlier noun, sentence, or part of a sentence”.

Forming and Using Adjective Clauses – Key Points to Remember

Using adjective clauses can be done easily if you know what all they contain and how they are formed. Before you learn the structure of an adjective clause, you should remember that an adjective clause will always be a dependent clause and will mostly follow the subject or object in the sentence.

As far as the structure of an adjective clause is concerned, here is what you need to know. It begins with a relative pronoun such as who, that, which, whose, etc. and comes immediately after the noun or noun phrase it is modifying. This is, in turn, followed by a noun or a verb. If the relative pronoun is followed by a noun/noun phrase/pronoun, then there should be a verb as well. In case a verb follows the relative pronoun, then an adjective is most likely to follow it.

Types of Adjective Clauses

Adjective clauses can be divided into two based on their nature and behaviour in a sentence. The two types of adjective clauses are:

• Essential Adjective Clauses
• Non-Essential Adjective Clauses

Let us look at each of these types in more detail.

The Essential Adjective Clause

As the name suggests, an essential adjective clause is one that is required to make sense of the sentence. It is a part of the sentence and the description is what matters, and so it is necessary to make the sentence meaningful, hence cannot be removed from the sentence. No specific punctuation marks are used to separate the clause from the rest of the sentence. Some examples of sentences with essential adjective clauses are given below.

• My neighbour does not like children who sit for hours fidgeting with their smartphones.
• We did not find any cafe that sold vegetarian momos.

The Non-Essential Adjective Clause

Unlike essential adjective clauses, a non-essential adjective clause provides additional information about the noun and is not the main focus. These kinds of clauses, even if removed, do not make a difference as the sentence still remains complete without it. A clause of this nature is enclosed within a pair of commas or brackets to separate it from the rest of the sentence. Here are some examples of non-essential adjective clauses for your reference.

• My brother, who lives in Australia, will be coming to India next month.
• The restaurant, where we first met, is being torn down.

Difference between an Adjective, an Adjective Phrase and an Adjective Clause

Learning the difference between an adjective, an adjective phrase and an adjective clause will help you use them cleverly. As all three of them perform the same function, it is absolutely necessary you comprehend how each of these would affect your writing. Check out the table given below.

Examples of Adjective Clauses

Take a look at the following examples and analyse it closely to understand well how it works and how it should be used.

• The company that I worked for in 2018 is shutting down.
• The girl, who has shifted from Japan, is here to meet you.
• The man who came here earlier is on the phone and wants to talk to you.
• Gowrishankar, the boy who scored the highest marks, has joined the army.
• My mom loved the bag that I had bought from Bangalore.
• The girl whose parents died last year was adopted by my uncle.
• I did not know what to do with the dress that I bought recently.
• Neena and Madhavi were not happy with the send-off party which we had organised.
• Nobody saw the boy who came first in the running race.
• Diana, the girl who spoke third, got the second prize.

Check Your Understanding of Adjective Clauses

Go through the following sentences and identify the word, phrase or clause that describes the noun in the sentence. Also mention if it is an adjective, an adjective phrase or an adjective clause.

1. Maui, Moana’s friend, will be leading the way.

2. The sky looks dreamy today.

3. The man from China has been made the manager.

4. My dad did not like the smartwatch which I gifted him on his 50^th birthday.

5. Banu, my maths teacher, is retired now.

6. My aunt, who works as the Vice Principal at Vivekalaya School, is coming to meet me today.

7. The reason why she was not here was unknown.

8. My sister has a secret admirer.

9. The computer that I bought last week is not working properly.

10. I loved the actor who played the role of Santana in the series.

Done? Check if you have identified them correctly by referring to the answers given below.

1. Maui, Moana’s friend from Andhra Pradesh, will be leading the way. – Adjective Phrase

2. The sky looks dreamy today. – Adjective

3. The man from China has been made the manager. – Adjective Phrase

4. My dad did not like the smartwatch which I gifted him on his 50^th birthday. – Adjective Clause

5. Banu, the teacher who taught me maths in school, is retired now. – Adjective Clause

6. My aunt, who works as the Vice Principal at Vivekalaya School, is coming to meet me today. – Adjective Clause

7. The reason she was not here was unknown. – Adjective 

8. My sister has a secret admirer. – Adjective

9. The computer that I bought last week is not working properly. – Adjective Clause

10. I loved the actor who played the role of Santana in the series. – Adjective Clause

Working out more grammar exercises on parts of speech, phrases and clauses will help you understand and use the various grammatical structures accurately in your speech and writing.