Parts of the Sentence – Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses

 

An adjective clause is used to modify a noun or a pronoun. It will begin with a relative pronoun (who, whose, whom, which, and that) or a subordinate conjunction (when and where). Those are the only words that can be used to introduce an adjective clause. The introductory word will always rename the word that it follows and modifies except when used with a preposition which will come between the introductory word and the word it renames.

 

Examples:

The student whose hand was up gave the wrong answer.

 

Whose hand was up is the adjective clause with whose, the relative pronoun, renaming and modifying student.

 

Jane is a person in whom I can place my confidence.

 

Whom I can place my confidence is the adjective clause with whom, the relative pronoun, with the preposition in between it and person the word that whom renames and modifies.

Here are another examples:

• Do you know the girl who started in grade 7 last week?
• Can I have the pencil that I gave you this morning?
• A notebook is a computer which can be carried around.
• I won’t eat in a restaurant whose cooks smoke.
• I want to live in a place where there is lots to do.
• Yesterday was a day when everything went wrong!

* There is a relative pronoun whom, which can be used as the object of the relative clause. For example: My science teacher is a person whom I like very much. To many people the word whom now sounds old-fashioned, and it is rarely used in spoken English.

Relative pronouns are associated as follows with their preceding noun:

Preceding noun	Relative pronoun	Examples
a person	who(m)/that, whose	– Do you know the girl who .. – He was a man that .. – An orphan is a child whose parents ..
a thing	which†/that, whose	– Do you have a computer which .. – The oak a tree that .. – This is a book whose author ..

Note 1: The relative pronoun whose is used in place of the possessive pronoun. It must be followed by a noun. Example: There’s a boy in grade 8 whose father is a professional tennis player. (There’s a boy in grade 8. His father is a professional tennis player.)

Note 2: The relative pronouns where and when are used with place and time nouns. Examples: FIS is a school where children from more than 50 countries are educated. 2001 was the year when terrorists attacked the Twin Towers in New York.

 

 

 

An adverb clause is a dependent clause that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb. It usually modifies the verb.

 

Adverb clauses are introduced by subordinate conjunctions including after, although, as, as if, before, because, if, since, so that, than, though, unless, until, when, where, and while. These are just some of the more common ones.

 

Example:

They arrived before the game had ended.

 

Before the game had ended is the adverb clause modifying the verb arrived telling when.

 

The Adverb Clause of Place indicates the place about which the verb talks. The Adverb Clause of Place starts with where, wherever, whereas etc…

Examples:

I have put it where I can find it again.

In this sentence, the Clause, ‘where I can find it again’ indicates the place where it is put.That Adverb Clause is of Place.

 

 

Adverb Clause of Condition is introduced by the following conjunctions if, whether, unless etc…

Example:

If I like it, I shall buy it.
In this sentence, the Adverb-Clause ‘If I like it’ puts a condition for my buying it.Such an Adverb-Clause is called An Adverb-Clause of Condition.

 

Adverb Clause of Purpose may indicate the purpose which the verb may address.

Example :

We have to eat so that we may live.

Here the Adverb-Clause ‘so that we can live’ is the purpose for which we eat.
That means the verb ‘eat’ is addressing the purpose.

 

A noun clause is a group of words that include a subject and a verb, and it functions as a noun. A noun clause is a subordinate clause, which means it is not a complete statement. As a dependent clause, it must connect to an independent clause (main clause). Noun clauses usually begin with words such as  how, that, what, whatever, when, where, which, who, whoever, and why. The most common word among them is that.

 

Examples of noun clause shown in bold.

• Why he said he would not get married, nobody knows.
• He told me that he had shot someone.
• You can go if you do not like being here.
• Ask him whether he has drunk from your glass or mine by mistake.

 

Noun clauses can be the subject, object, object of preposition, complement, etc. The noun clauses in the following examples are in bold.

• That the brothers are triplets is amazing. (Subject)
• We don’t know what songs she often sings. (Object)
• The book is about where the dinosaurs laid their eggs. (Object of preposition)
• He is what we would call a misogynist. (Complement)

 

A noun clause has its own subject and verb.

• They know where I often fly my kites.
  The noun clause is where I often fly my kites with I being the subject of the noun clause, and fly is the verb.

 

A noun clause must have a word to connect the noun clause to the rest of the sentence. The connecting word (connector) comes before the subject and the verb of the noun clause. The following examples use the connecting words that, who, and when.

• Most people know that a spider has eight legs.
• The police were investigating who the serial killer was.
• I don’t know when the birds built their nest in the roof.

 

Subjunctive in noun clauses

We use subjective verbs in sentences to express or stress wishes, importance, or urgency.  A subjunctive verb usually appears in a noun clause beginning with that, and it uses the simple form of a verb that does not have the present, past or future forms. The subjunctive verb is neither singular nor plural.

• The leader demands that we treat him like a god.
• We insisted that he honour the terms of the agreement.
• The father recommended that she not go to the cinema alone.
• It is important that everyone be told the truth.
• His mother suggested that he see/should see a doctor.