What is an Adjective Clause?
An adjective clause is a type of relative clause that describes a noun and begins with a relative pronoun (who, whom, whose, that, which, what).
Examples of Adjective Clauses
Some examples of adjective clauses would be the following:
The audience applauded the singer who performed the breathtaking solo.
My mother’s apple pie recipe, which has won numerous contests, has the perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Darius, whose paintings are all over the art classroom, wants to study design in college.
Our new team captain will be Sylvia, whom I have played soccer with since childhood.
I had to try on the jacket that was on the mannequin.
Why You Should Use Adjective Clauses in Your Writing
Keep in mind that adjective clauses are simply dependent clauses that begin with a relative pronoun, and as a whole, they function like an adjective which means they will describe a noun.
The benefits of using adjective clauses in your writing is primarily to provide more description or detail about the noun in the main clause of the sentence. Notice the difference between the following two sentences:
I smiled at the baby.
I smiled at the baby who seemed very sad.
Without the adjective clause, there would be a good bit of detail and context left out of the sentence, so be sure to use adjective clauses where appropriate in your writing to provide more detail and description.
Be sure you have a solid understanding of independent clauses and dependent clauses as well, and when you’re ready, explore noun clauses, adverb clauses, and elliptical clauses, too!
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