Definition :
A dependent clause used as an adjective within a sentence.
Also known as an adjectival clause or a relative clause. An adjective clause usually begins with a relative pronoun
(which, that, who, whom, whose), a relative adverb (where, when, why),
or a zero relative.
Examples :
The happy woman danced across the street.
Happy is an adjective modifying the noun woman.
It is telling us which woman.
(Remember that Which one? is one of the adjective
questions.)
Which woman? The happy woman.
Now, look at this sentence :
The woman who looks happy danced across the
street.
This time, a whole clause is modifying the noun woman.
The clause is still telling us which woman.
Which woman? The woman who looks happy.
This clause is an adjective clause. It is a group of
words with a subject and a verb, and it is acting as one part of speech - an
adjective.
Here are examples using these relative pronouns :
·
The person who made the mess needs to
clean it. (modifying person)
·
The girl whom you teach is my sister.
(modifying girl)
·
People whose cats shed need to vacuum
often. (modifying people)
·
This is the house that Jack built.
(modifying house)
·
The book which I had not read fell on my
head. (modifying book)
Here
are some examples of how to create an adjective phrase :
1.
Adjective Clause :
The books, which are lost, are not really necessary.
Adjective Phrase :
The books lost are not really necessary.
2.
Adjective Clause :
The girl who is running is my best friend.
Adjective Phrase :
The girl running is my best friend.
Here are
several examples of sentences with the adjective clauses underlined :
·
Pizza, which
most people love, is not very healthy.
·
The people whose
names are on the list will go to camp.
·
Grandpa remembers the old days when there was no television.
·
Fruit that is
grown organically is expensive.
·
Students who
are intelligent get good grades.
·
Eco-friendly cars that
run on electricity save gas.
·
I know someone whose
father served in World War II.
Article
Containing Adjective Clauses :
Computers have invaded every aspect of
education, from kindergarten through college. The figures show that schools
have spent over two billion dollars installing two million new computers.
Recently, with the explosive increase of sites on the Internet, computers have
taken another dramatic rise. In just five years, the number of Internet hosts
has skyrocketed from 2 million to nearly 20 million. It is not uncommon for 6th
graders to surf the Net, design their own home pages, and e-mail their friends
or strangers they have "met" on the
Web. Computer literacy is a reality for many junior high students and most high
school students.
In the midst of this technological explosion,
we might well stop and ask some key questions. Is computer technology good or
bad for education? Are students learning more or less? What, exactly, are they
learning? And who stands to benefit from education's current infatuation with
computers and the Internet?
In the debate over the virtues of computers
in education, the technological optimists think that computers and the Internet
are ushering us into the next literacy revolution, a change as profound as
Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. In contrast, a much smaller but
growing number of critics believe that cyberspace is not the ideal classroom. I
agree with the critics. If you consider your own experience, you'll agree that
the benefits of computer literacy are at best wildly overrated. At their worst,
computers and the Internet pander to the short attention spans and the passive
viewing habits of a young television generation.
The technological optimists sing a siren song
of an enchanted new land where the educational benefits of computers and the
Internet are boundless. First, they boast that children can now access
information on every conceivable subject. If little Eva or little Johnny wants
to learn about far-away cultures, they can access sites from their own homes
that will teach them about the great languages and cultures of the world.
Second, these starry-eyed optimists warble about how the Internet has created a
truly democratic space, where all children--rich, poor, black, white, and
brown--have equal access to information and education. Third, they claim that
computers will allow students to have e-mail conversations
with experts on any subject around the world. No longer will students be
limited by their own classroom, their teacher, or their environment. Distance
learning is the wave of the future, and classrooms will become obsolete or at
least optional. In the words of John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Computer, the
new technologies have created an "avalanche of personal creativity and
achievement" and they have given students the "ability to explore,
convey, and create knowledge as never before." Children who used to hate
going to school will now love to learn to read and write, to do math and
science. They will voluntarily spend hours learning on the Web instead of being
bored to death by endless books and stodgy teachers.
Sound too good to be true? Let's examine
these claims, one by one. First, promoters of computer
learning are endlessly excited about the quantity of information available on
the Internet. The reality, however, is quite a different story. If you've
worked on the Internet, you know that finding and retrieving information from a
Web site can sometimes be tedious and time consuming. And once you find a site,
you have no idea whether the information will be valuable. Popular search
engines such as Yahoo! are inefficient at finding relevant information, unless
you just want to buy a book on Amazon.com or find a street map
for Fargo, North Dakota. Information is definitely available on the Web, but
the problem is finding relevant, reliable, and non-commercial information.
Next, the optimists claim that the Internet
is truly a democratic space with equal access foreveryone. Again, the reality
falls short. First, access to an Internet provider at home costs over a hundred
dollars a month, once you add up service and long distance fees. And then
there's the technology barrier--not every person has the skills to navigate the
Web in any but the most superficial way. Equal access is still only a
theoretical dream, not a current reality.
Exercises
:
1. I talked to
the women. She was sitting next to me. (Who)
I talked
to the women who was sitting next to
me.
2. I have a
class. It begins at 8.00 AM. (Which)
I have a
class which begins at 8.00 AM.
3. The man
called the police. His car was Stolen. (Whose)
The man whose car was
stolen
called the police.
4. The building
is very old. He lives there. (Where)
The building where he lives
is very old.
5. The woman
was Ms. Silvy. I saw her. (Whom)
The woman
whom I saw was Ms. Silvy.
Source :
