Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause (also called relative clause) is a dependent clause which modifies a noun or pronoun. It answers the questions like "which?" or "what kind of?” 

For examples,

• He was a skillful manager. [ "skillful" is adjective modifying noun "manager". ]
• He was a manager who is skillful. [ "who is skillful" is an adjective clause modifying -- in the same way as "skillful" in last example -- the noun "manager". ]

The adjective clause often begins with relative pronouns, relative possessive adjective, or relative adverbs. 

Relative Pronouns: who, whom, which, that   

- WHO replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people. 

For example,  

• I met a man. He runs a successful business. → I met a man who runs a successful business.

- WHOM replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people. 

For example,

• The manager introduced a new product to the market. I ask him a lot of questions. → The manager whom I asked a lot of questions introduced a new product to the market.

- WHICH replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to animals or things.

For example,

• The product looked excellent. Many were interested in it. → The product which many were interested in looked excellent.

- THAT replaces nouns and pronouns that refer to people, animals or things. 

For examples,

• I met a man. He runs a successful business. → I met a man that runs a successful business.
• The manager introduced a new product to the market. I ask him a lot of questions. → The manager that I asked a lot of questions introduced a new product to the market.
• The product looked excellent. Many were interested in it. → The product that many were interested in looked excellent.

Note: These relative pronouns can be omitted when they are objects of verbs. When they are objects of prepositions, they can be omitted when they do not follow the preposition. But they can’t be deleted in non-defining clause. 

Relative Possessive Adjective: whose 

- WHOSE replaces possessive forms of nouns and pronouns. It can refer to people, animals or things. 

For examples,

• The man is happy. + I found the man’s wallet. → The man whose wallet I found is happy. 
• The girl is employed. + Her study performance was good.→ The girl whose study performance was good is employed. 

Relative Adverbs: when, where, why 

- WHEN replaces a time (in + year, in + month, on + day,...). It cannot be a subject.

For example, 

• I will never forget the day. + I graduated on that day. → I will never forget the day when I graduated. 

- WHERE​ replaces a place (in which + location)

For example,

• That was the hotel. + I stayed there. → That was the hotel where I stayed.

- WHY replaces reason (in which + reason)

For examples,

• Money is the problem. She decides to apply for loan because of it.→ Money is the problem why she decides to apply for loan.

គួរចងចាំៈ Adjective clause ជាអនុប្រយោគដែលបញ្ជាក់ន័យ ឲ្យនាម ឬ ស័ព្ទនាម ពោលគឺ វាមានតួនាទីជាគុណនាម។ វាចាប់ផ្តើមដោយពាក្យដូចជា who, whom, that, which, whose, when, where, និង why។

Function of adjective clause 

Modifying a Noun 

For examples,

• The children are going to visit the museum. + They are on the bus. → The children who are on the bus are going to visit the museum. 

Here are some more examples: 

• The car that she is driving is not hers. 
• Some firefighters never meet the people whom they save. 
• Did I tell you about the author whom I met? 

Modifying a Pronoun 

For examples, 

• They are searching for the one who borrowed the book. 
• Is there someone who can help me? 
• I want to meet anybody who is generous.

How to combine two sentences using adjective clause

A sentence that contains one adjective clause and one independent clause is the result of combining two clauses that contain a repeated noun. You can combine two independent clauses to make one sentence containing an adjective clause by following these steps: 

Step 1. You must have two clauses which contain a repeated noun (or pronoun, or noun and pronoun which refer to the same thing). Here are two examples: 

• The book is on the table. + I like the book. ["the book" is repeated.]
• The man is here. + The man wants the book. ["the man" is repeated.]

ជំហានទី១- រកនាម ឬគុណនាមដែលដូចគ្នា (សំដៅលើវត្ថុ ឬមនុស្សតែម្នាក់) នៅក្នុងប្រយោគ​ទាំងពីរ។

Step 2. Delete the repeated noun and replace it with a relative pronoun in the clause you want to make dependent. 

• The book is on the table. + I like which. [Replace "the book" with "which".]
• The man is here. + who wants the book. [Replace "the man" with "who".]

ជំហានទី២- លុបនាមឬគុណនាមដែលនៅក្នុងប្រយោគទី២ ហើយដាក់ជំនួសដោយ relative pronoun មួយ។
 

Step 3. Move the relative pronoun to the beginning of its clause (if it is not already there). The clause is now an adjective clause. 

• The book is on the table. + which I like. [Move "which" to the front.]
• The man is here. + who wants the book. ["who" is in front, so there is no need to move.]

ជំហានទី៣- ប្តូរទីតាំង relative pronoun នោះទៅខាងមុខនៃប្រយោគ (ក្នុងករណី វាមិនស្ថិត នៅខាងមុខប្រយោគដូចក្នុងឧទាហរណ៍ទី១)។ ពេលនេះ ប្រយោគទីពីរនិងក្លាយជា adjective clause ពេញលេញ។

Step 4. Put the adjective clause immediately after the noun phrase it modifies (the repeated noun): 

• The book which I like is on the table. [Place "which I like" next to the noun "the book" in the first clause.]
• The man who wants the book is here. [Place "who wants the book" next to the noun "the man" in the first clause.]

ជំហានទី៤- ដាក់ adjective clause នោះឲ្យនៅជាប់បន្ទាប់ពីនាម ឬស័ព្ទនាម ដែលវា បញ្ជាក់​ន័យឲ្យ។ ចូរចងចាំថា ការដាក់ relative clause មិនត្រូវកន្លែង នាំឲ្យប្រយោគ ថ្មីមានន័យ​ស្រពិច​ស្រពិល៕