Adjective Clauses Restrictive and Nonrestrictive English Language

A restrictive adjective,

 clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence and cannot be removed without changing the meaning. It is not set off by commas. For example:

1. The book that I'm reading is very interesting.
2. The people who live next door are very friendly.

A nonrestrictive adjective clause,

 is not essential to the meaning of the sentence and can be removed without changing the meaning. It is set off by commas. For example:

1. My sister, who is a doctor, is coming to visit.
2. The house, which has a pool, is for sale.

Practical uses:

• Adjective clauses are used to provide additional information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence.
• They can be used to clarify or specify which noun or pronoun is being referred to.

Special cases:

• When the pronoun "who" or "whom" is the subject of the adjective clause, it is not necessary to use the subject pronoun "he" or "she." For example: "The person who called is here" instead of "The person who he called is here."
• When the pronoun "that" is the object of the adjective clause, it is not necessary to use the object pronoun "him" or "her." For example: "The person that I saw is here" instead of "The person that I saw him is here."

Exercises:

1. Identify the adjective clause in the following sentence: "The film, which won six Oscars, is playing at the theater."
2. Identify the adjective clause in the following sentence: "The painting that hangs in the living room is worth a lot of money."
3. Rewrite the following sentence using a nonrestrictive adjective clause: "The woman who works at the store is very friendly." (The woman, who works at the store, is very friendly.)
4. Rewrite the following sentence using a restrictive adjective clause: "The house, which has a pool, is for sale." (The house that has a pool is for sale.)
5. Rewrite the following sentence using a restrictive adjective clause: "The man, who is wearing a suit, is my boss." (The man who is wearing a suit is my boss.)

Answers to the exercises:

1. The adjective clause in the following sentence is: "which won six Oscars."
2. The adjective clause in the following sentence is: "that hangs in the living room."
3. "The woman, who works at the store, is very friendly."
4. "The house that has a pool is for sale."
5. "The man who is wearing a suit is my boss."

 4 more exercises for you to practice using adjective clauses:

1. Identify the adjective clause in the following sentence: "The company, whose headquarters are in New York, is expanding to Los Angeles."
2. Identify the adjective clause in the following sentence: "The man who is speaking at the conference is an expert on artificial intelligence."
3. Rewrite the following sentence using a nonrestrictive adjective clause: "The dog that is barking is my neighbor's." (The dog, which is barking, is my neighbor's.)
4. Rewrite the following sentence using a restrictive adjective clause: "The woman, who is wearing a red dress, is my sister." (The woman who is wearing a red dress is my sister.)

Answers to the exercises:

1. The adjective clause in the following sentence is: "whose headquarters are in New York."
2. The adjective clause in the following sentence is: "who is speaking at the conference."
3. "The dog, which is barking, is my neighbor's."
4. "The woman who is wearing a red dress is my sister."