LANGUAGE FOCUS

A relative pronoun can be the subject of its own clause.

• Subject Relative Pronouns:   who, which, that

American football, which is the most popular sport In the United States, began at Harvard University.

In this pattern, who, which, and that can be either singular or plural. Make the verb agree with the antecedent.

I have not read the magazine that is lying on the coffee table.

(The verb is lying is singular to agree with the singular antecedent magazine.)

I have not read the magazines that are lying on the coffee table.

{The verb are lying is plural to agree with the plural antecedent magazines.)

• Adjective clauses are either restrictive (necessary) or nonrestrictive (unnecessary).

Restrictive (necessary): no commas

The professor who teaches my biology class won a Nobel Prize two years ago.

Nonrestrictive (unnecessary): commas

Professor Jones, who teaches my biology class, won a Nobel Prize two years ago.

The following examples show you how to combine two sentences to make a new sentence containing a subject pattern adjective clauses.

- You may delete the relative pronoun and the be verb when:

1.1. they are followed by a prepositional phrase.

Ex1: The man who is in the house is my father.

🡪 The man in the house is my father.

Ex2: The books that are on the desk are mine

🡪 The books on the desk are mine.

1.2. the main verb in the relative clause is progressive.

Ex1: The man who is swimming in the lake is my father.

🡪The man swimming in the lake is my father.

Ex2: The books that are lying on the floor are mine.

🡪 The books lying on the floor are mine.

1.3. the main verb in tenses

Ex1: People who buy lottery tickets are often found at bingo.

🡪 People buying lottery tickets are often found at bingo.

Ex2: The bus which leaves at 6:03 was late today, so I caught the 6:08 one for downtown.

🡪 The bus leaving at 6:03 was late today.