2016-08-09 Writing: adjective clauses

Greg Malivuk
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http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk
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After you have checked and improved your outline, write a paragraph or essay supporting your opinion on this topic. (If you write an essay, make sure to add some general background information to your introductory paragraph.)
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Adjective clauses: clauses that modify (give information about) nouns
	(A clause is a group of words with a subject and verb.)

I like all of my students, who do their homework every day.
= I like all of my students, and all of my students do their homework every day.
- With a comma means this information is extra, because we already know which nouns the sentence is about. (“all of my students”)

I like all of my students who do their homework every day.
= Some of my students do their homework every day, and I like all of those students.
- Without a comma, it is an identifying (or restrictive) adjective clause, because it identifies which nouns I’m talking about (or restricts the group of nouns I’m talking about).
- Because it identifies the noun, this information is necessary to the sentence.
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“who” for people with or without comma
“which” for things with or without comma
“that” for people or things, without comma

John is the man who you met yesterday.
John is the man that you met yesterday.
John is the man you met yesterday. (we can remove “that” if it isn’t the subject of the clause)
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Handout p. 179 practice 6 - Complete the sentences with “who” or “which”
1 which
2 who
3 who
4 which (= the meeting)
5 who / that
6 which
7 who (= couples) / that
8 who / that
Which of these could also be “that”?
Can we leave out “that” in any sentences? - no, because it’s the subject in all of them
5 - who doesn’t like the parents’ or matchmaker’s choice
7 - who marry for love
8 - who listened only to their hearts

Jon, who you met yesterday, is my boss.
“who” isn’t the subject, but it’s after a comma, so I can’t change it to “that” and I can’t remove it
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p. 181 part A - Add commas where necessary.
3 no commas
4 Dr. Jones, who is our neighbor, is a pediatrician.
5 no commas
6 Gabriela and Trinh, who studied together, got As on the final exam.
7 My birthday is next Monday, which is a holiday.
8 no commas

“Monday” is the subject of the sentence, “Monday is a holiday,” so we would use “which” in an adjective clause.
“Monday” is the time of the sentence, “The test is on Monday,” so we would use “when” in an adjective clause.
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We also use commas to separate years (after dates) and states (after cities):
February 5th, 1983, when I was born, was a Saturday.
Boston, Massachusetts, where I live now, is a lovely city.
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Homework: p. 181 part B - add commas to the paragraph as needed