Advanced Writing Resource for ESL Students

Examples of adjective phrases:

Example

Explanation

The actress who is performing in the play is famous.
Adjective Clause = who is performing in the play

The actress performing in the play is famous.
Adjective Phrase = performing in the play

Adjective clauses with subject pronouns can be reduced to make adjective phrases.

Note:
- A phrase has no subject or verb.
- A clause has a subject and a verb.

The book which* I read last week is great.

Adjective clauses that do not have subject pronouns cannot be reduced.

*This adjective clause has an object pronoun.

		To reduce adjective clauses with "be" verb forms, omit the relative pronoun and the "be" verb form.
Adjective clause: The woman who is teaching my son to swim lives next door to me. Adjective phrase: The woman teaching my son to swim lives next door to me.		Clause - Subject = who - "Be" verb form = is teaching Phrase - Omit "who" and "is" - Keep "teaching"
Adjective clause: John, who is my teacher, is going to Tokyo next month. Adjective phrase: John, my teacher, is going to Tokyo next month.		Clause - Subject = who - "Be" verb form = is Phrase - Omit "who" and "is"

		To reduce adjective clauses without the "be" verb form, omit the relative pronoun and change the verb to its -ing form.
Adjective clause: The man who lives upstairs sells computers. Adjective phrase: The man living upstairs sells computers.		Clause - Subject = who - Verb = lives Phrase - Omit subject - Change "lives" to "living"
Adjective clause: The car that drove through the red light was photographed by the police. Adjective phrase: The car driving through the red light was photographed by the police.		Clause - Subject = that - Verb = drove Phrase - Omit subject - Change "drove" to "driving"

Mary, sitting over there, is my sister.

Mary is the subject. The subject is identified. Therefore, the adjective phrase is not needed to identify the subject.

Use a comma to separate an adjective phrase from the independent clause if the adjective phrase is not needed to identify the subject.

That woman sitting over there is my sister.

That woman is the subject. The subject is NOT identified. Therefore, the adjective phrase is needed to identify the subject.

Do not use a comma to separate the adjective phrase from the independent clause if the adjective phrase is needed to identify the subject.