Gerunds, Infinitives and Participles
 
Compounding and Coordination
 
Subordination
 
Subordinate Adverb Clauses
 
Subordinate Noun Clauses
 
Subordinate Adjective Clauses
 
Reduced Subordinate Clauses
 
Focus Structures
 
Logical Connectors

 

Sentence Complexity and Embedding

Adjective Clauses

Activity 16.6: Review of Relative Pronoun Selection Rules

Exercise A – All the sentences below contain adjective clauses. Locate and underline each adjective clause, circle both the relative pronoun in the adjective clause and its antecedent in the main clause.

1. The man who won the gold medal waved to the crowd.
2. The runner that came in last waved to the crowd.
3. The window which broke was the windshield.
4. The ship that sank was the Edmund Fitzgerald.
5. The woman whom she defeated became a coach.
6. The embezzler who he arrested became a lawyer in jail.
7. The lawyer that defended him became a judge.
8. The criminal he informed on was arrested.
9. The window which we replaced is the windshield.
10. The money that we owed wasn’t very much.
11. The towels they stole were marked with the hotel’s insignia.
12. The man whose medal was stolen felt sad.
13. The store whose clerk fought back didn’t get robbed.
14. The dog whose leg was broken whimpered quietly.
15. The fire for which the cause is still unknown began at 1:00 this morning.

16. I have to pick up some medicine for my allergies that my doctor recommended.
17. The girls spread rumors about their teachers that were wrong.
18. The students asked questions about the exercises that were complicated.
19. The waiter served a dinner roll to the woman that was well-buttered.
20. Ralph piled all of his clothes in the hamper that he had worn.

Exercise B - Discussion question: Now discuss the sentences with our classmates, talking about the rules that apply to each sentence. Finally, write down any questions you have in the space provided here.

Sentences 1 through 15 provide examples of the various grammatical and standard uses of relative clauses. The relative clauses in these sentences are always placed immediately after their antecedents. The one exception is when the relative pronoun acts as the object of a preposition and the presposition is fronted, too.

Sentences 16-20 provide examples of sentences with ambiguous antecedents. That is, there are two possible antecedents in the sentence. The two are highlighted in blue. Since relative pronouns are usually placed immediately after their antecedents, most people will look to the noun immediately in front of the relative pronoun, but in these sentences, another noun further away from the relative pronoun also makes sense and could be the actual antecedent. Ambiguity results, and in sentences 19 and 20, adds some humor. These sentences show some of the meaning difficulties that can arise in sentences with relative clauses.

Adjective Clause 3