Adjective Clauses & Phrases

An adjective clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and describes a noun, while an adjective phrase is a group of words without a verb that does the same job. Both work like adjectives -- they tell you more about the noun they modify.

What You'll Learn

You already know how to use single adjectives (big, red, beautiful) and how to order multiple adjectives before a noun. Now in P5, you will learn to recognise and use longer structures that do the same job as adjectives:

• Identify adjective clauses beginning with who, which, and that and understand which noun they modify
• Recognise adjective phrases (groups of words without a subject-verb pair) that describe nouns
• Distinguish between an adjective clause (has a verb) and an adjective phrase (no verb)
• Use adjective clauses and phrases to add detail and make your writing more precise

When to Use

1. Describing which person you mean: "The student who won the Science quiz received a trophy." (The adjective clause tells you which student.)
2. Giving detail about a thing: "The book that is on the shelf belongs to the school library." (The adjective clause identifies which book.)
3. Describing an animal: "The kitten which was hiding under the table finally came out." (The adjective clause tells you which kitten.)
4. Adding detail with a phrase instead of a clause: "The boy in the blue uniform is the head prefect." (The adjective phrase modifies "the boy".)
5. Combining a describing phrase after a noun: "The cake covered with chocolate icing looked delicious." (The adjective phrase describes "the cake".)

How to Form

Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause starts with a relative pronoun (who, which, or that) and contains its own subject and verb. It comes right after the noun it describes.

Structure: Noun + relative pronoun + subject-verb group + rest of sentence

"The girl who sits beside me is from Tampines." The adjective clause "who sits beside me" modifies the noun "the girl".

Adjective Phrases

An adjective phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb pair that describes a noun. Common types include prepositional phrases and participial phrases.

Key difference: An adjective clause has a verb (e.g., "who sits beside me"), but an adjective phrase does not have its own subject-verb pair (e.g., "near the bus stop").

Clause vs Phrase Comparison

Key Rules

1. An adjective clause must come right after the noun it modifies: Place the clause immediately after the noun it describes. "The girl who won the prize is my classmate" is correct. Placing it elsewhere causes confusion.

2. Use "who" for people and "which" for things and animals: While "that" can replace either in everyday sentences, using "who" for people and "which" for things or animals is the safer choice in examinations.

3. "That" is the all-purpose relative pronoun: You can use "that" for people, animals, and things. "The woman that helped us was kind." "The book that I read was fascinating."

4. An adjective phrase has no subject-verb pair: If a group of words after a noun contains a subject doing an action, it is a clause. If it simply describes the noun without its own subject and verb, it is a phrase. "The dog sleeping on the mat" -- "sleeping" is a participle, not a full verb with a subject, so this is a phrase.

5. Adjective phrases often begin with a preposition or a participle: Look for prepositions (in, on, with, near, behind, from) or participles (wearing, covered, painted, broken, given) as signals that an adjective phrase follows.

6. Do not add an extra pronoun after the relative pronoun in a clause: Write "The student who scored full marks is Ali," not "The student who he scored full marks is Ali."

Common Mistakes

Clue Words

Adjective clause signals

who, which, that -- when these words appear right after a noun, they usually start an adjective clause.

Adjective phrase signals (prepositions)

in, on, at, with, near, beside, behind, from, between, under, above

Adjective phrase signals (participles)

wearing, carrying, covered, painted, broken, written, sitting, standing, made, given, filled

Tip: Ask yourself "Which one?" or "What kind?" about a noun. If the answer is a group of words that follows the noun, you have found an adjective clause or an adjective phrase.

Practice Tips

1. The "Which one?" test: Point to a noun in a sentence and ask "Which one?" If the answer is a group of words right after the noun, that group is an adjective clause or phrase. "The pupil who answered first won a prize." -- Which pupil? The one who answered first.

2. The verb check for clause vs phrase: Look at the group of words modifying the noun. Does it have its own subject and verb? If yes, it is a clause. If no, it is a phrase. "The cat sleeping on the sofa" -- no subject-verb pair, so it is a phrase. "The cat that is sleeping on the sofa" -- "that" is the subject and "is sleeping" is the verb, so it is a clause.

3. Try removing the adjective clause or phrase: Cover it and read the sentence without it. The sentence should still be grammatically complete. "The shop (near the MRT station) sells curry puffs." -- "The shop sells curry puffs" still works, confirming that "near the MRT station" is an adjective phrase modifying "the shop".

4. Convert between clause and phrase: Practise turning an adjective clause into an adjective phrase and vice versa. "The bag which has a red strap" can become "The bag with a red strap". This strengthens your understanding of both structures.

Quick Reference