Catching a tennis ball isn't easy but commas are much easier.
Before we can learn about the sophisticated structures related to adjective clauses, we need to learn the basics. Today, it is the position of an adjective clause and the rules for commas.
Definitions. Adjective clauses can also be called relative clauses because the clause relates to a noun.
Position
The position of an adjective clause is after the noun that it describes. Its meaning is then of course, description.
Example: The book that I am reading is pretty good
That I am reading is an adjective clause describing the book and it is in its correct location – after the noun.
2. Commas.
Most teachers will explain that we use commas when the adjective clause is unnecessary for the meaning of the sentence.They call these adjective clauses non-restrictive because they are unnecessary.The problem with that approach is that the students don’t often know whether it is additional information or not and often it takes a long time for them to make that determination. A better approach is to look at the noun only instead of the adjective clause to determine whether you need commas.
You need commas in two cases: only one and definition or fact. Let’s start with the first category, only one.What makes the noun only one?
Proper nouns. Proper nouns are nouns that begin with a capital letter like Karen, Atlanta, etc.
Pronouns. They could be possessive adjectives like his/her/their or demonstrative pronouns like this/that/these/those.
Superlative. Superlative means only one. The form is the est/st/iest or the most.
Some words. Some words are just considered only one like the sun or the moon.
Let’s look at some examples for each of the four.
Proper nouns
Georgia Tech, which is a very prestigious school, is located in downtown Atlanta.Why do I need commas?Georgia Tech is a proper noun and it is only one.
Birmingham, which is home to many medical schools, is not far from the state of Georgia.
The grammar book used Birmingham and put commas.Do we need commas really?Well, we have a proper noun but is there another Birmingham?Yes, there is one in England.The book shouldn’t have put commas.
Most proper nouns are only one though.
2. Pronouns.
My father, who is a retired mechanical engineer, loves to build model trains now.
We look at the noun only – my father. It has the pronoun of my and I have only one father. What about this example though?
My brother, who is a computer executive, travels a lot.
The noun that the adjective clause is describing is my brother. There is a pronoun but is it only one? Well, for me it is. I have only one brother and so I put commas.If you have more than one brother, you don’t put commas.
3.Superlative. My oldest sister, who is a businesswoman, is now living in Chicago.
If I have more than one sister but want to make it only one, I can put a pronoun + superlative.
4.Some words.
The sun, which is finally out, is a welcome relief from all the rain we’ve had.
Now let’s do some more practice.
“It’s a Wonderful Life “ which is a holiday classic is probably one of the best Christmas movies ever made.
The craziest Christmas song which is played a lot on the radio is “My grandmother got run over by a reindeer.”
My laptop which is actually Georgia Tech’s is a very old computer.
This handout which is on adjective clauses is to help some of the people that did not do well on that section of the test.
Many of the teachers at the Language Institute hate MS Word which is a common word processor.
Edgar Allen Poe who was a famous author wrote some of the most unusual stories that I’ve ever read.
My maternal grandmother who lived until we she was 95 was active in the civil rights movement.
As usual, if you post your answers or tell me you have the practice, I will send you the answers and give you even more practice if needed.
Okay, that's it for our first lesson on adjective or relative clauses. We look at the position of an adjective clause and the rules for commas. There are two rules for commas: only one and definition. In this post, we looked at only one and not definition. Most people know when they are writing a definition and so can add commas. If you do the practice, I would be happy to post about commas with definition.
Remember for commas: look at the noun and not the adjective clause. Then you will be able to use commas faster and better.