ACADEMIC ENGLISH

ADJECTIVE
CLAUSES
English Coach
Yazmin Abat Alarcón
WHAT DOES AN ADJECTIVE CLAUSE DESCRIBE?

Sometimes, an adjective clause describes or identifies a

noun
in the main clause
People who work at home don’t have to spend time
commuting:

Main Clause = People don’t have to spend time commuting

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

WHAT DOES AN ADJECTIVE CLAUSE DESCRIBE?

Sometimes, an adjective clause describes or identifies a

noun in the main clause
People who work at home don’t have to spend time
commuting:

Main Clause = People don’t have to spend time commuting

Adjective Clause = who work at home

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

RELATIVE CLAUSES: THAT VS. WHO

THAT - WHO -
NOUN NOUN
CLAUSE CLAUSE

ANIMALS PEOPLE
OBJECTS

Examples:
• Animals which are in the zoo learn to
socialize in early stages.
• Dr. Jones, who is the director of the zoo, is
very committed.
Yazmin Abat | Academic English |
 RELATIVE CLAUSES: THAT VS WHICH

THAT - WHICH -
NOUN

,
NOUN
CLAUSE CLAUSE

ESSENTIAL NON-
ESSENTIAL
• Animals which are in the zoo learn to socialize in
early stages.
Essential information = which are in the zoo

• Dr. Jones, who is the director of the zoo, is very

committed.
Non-essential = who is the director of the zoo
Yazmin Abat | Academic English |
SUMMARY 1: RELATIVE PRONOUNS – SUBJECT

RESTRICTIVE NON
RESTRICTIVE
People Who, that Who
Things Which, that Which
Possessives Whose Whose

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

WHAT DOES AN ADJECTIVE CLAUSE DESCRIBE?

Sometimes, the relative pronoun is the object of the

clause
The house that we bought is in a nice neighborhood

Main Clause = We bought

Object of the main clause = The house

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

WHAT DOES AN ADJECTIVE CLAUSE DESCRIBE?

Sometimes, the relative pronoun is the object of the

clause
The house that we bought is in a nice neighborhood

Main Clause = We bought

Object of the main clause = The house

The house is in a nice neighborhood

We bought a house

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

RELATIVE CLAUSES: THAT VS WHICH

ADJECTIVE ADJECTIVE
NOUN

,
NOUN
CLAUSE CLAUSE

ESSENTIAL NON-
ESSENTIAL
• The nursing home you choose should have a professionally
trained staff.
Essential information = You choose the nursing home

• My garden, which many people admire, was severely damaged

by the drought.
Non-essential = many people admire (my garden)
Yazmin Abat | Academic English |
SUMMARY 2 : RELATIVE PRONOUNS – OBJECT

RESTRICTIVE NON
RESTRICTIVE
Who,
whom, Who,
People
that, whom
nothing
Which,
Things that, Which
nothing
Possessives Whose Whose

Yazmin Abat | Academic English |

 INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING

The main difference

between a private company
and a publicly traded
company is that the shares
of a private company are
available only to select
investors and are not traded
on a public market. A private
company becomes a publicly
traded company through an
IPO, which is the first time
that it sells new shares to
investors in a public market.

Source: https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/documents/support/programs/investment-foundations/10-equity-securities.pdf
Yazmin Abat | Academic English |
THANK YOU!