Real Grammar - Susan Conrad, Douglas Biber 2009

Adjective Clauses That Modify Sentences
Unit 47 He saluted me, which I enjoyed

What have you learned from your grammar textbook?

Adjective clauses usually modify the noun that they immediately follow. The relative pronoun which is used to refer to things (not people). Adjective clauses that add descriptive information about a noun but are not essential are punctuated with commas.

• Boston, which is in the state of Massachusetts, is an interesting city to visit.

What does the corpus show?

A

Some adjective clauses do not modify a noun. Instead they comment on the whole idea in the preceding clause. They are called “sentence relatives.” They always use which. When spoken, they have intonation that sets off the adjective clause. When written, commas are used to set off the adjective clause:

• Well, I don’t have time to do it for this project, which means it’ll probably have to get put off until next year.

Sentence relatives are common in conversation. They are also common in newspaper and fiction writing, but they are rare in academic writing.

B

Four functions are expressed by sentence relatives. Two of these are very common.

C

The use of sentence relatives differs between conversation and different types of writing.

Activities

1 Notice in context: Read the two conversations and the paragraph from a newspaper article. Circle each sentence relative clause, and underline the independent clause that it modifies.

1. Conversation: About an argument with a friend.

Sulim: Anyway, he called me back later and apologized, which is a real plus* for him.

Fawad: Yeah, that’s amazing.

*a real plus is an idiom meaning “something good or positive”

2. Conversation: While in the car on a trip.

Carla: I want to know where we are. Actually, I do believe that we can switch to the west Texas map now.

Suze: We are right around Colorado City, which is near Odessa where my best friend lives.

3. Newspaper writing: Information about a popular basketball star.

Michael Jordan has some things going for him besides his nice-guy image. He has a college degree, which is more than can be said for some of our presidents. He was born in New York, raised in North Carolina, and lives in Chicago, which means he’d have national appeal. His basketball-playing style has been widely praised for its spontaneity.

2 Analyze discourse: Match each sentence relative in the passages on the left with the correct function on the right. Write the letter of the function on the line.

1. It takes the body four hours to digest fats, which is why people often feel sluggish after eating.

2. Kathryn didn’t hear the alarm go off the next morning, which in itself was unusual. On days when she was due in the office early she normally was awake and out of bed long before her clock radio clicked itself on.

3. I want to tell you about aerobics directors. Many of them are not full time, which means that they are usually running about from job to job to job just trying to make ends meet.

a. commenting on likelihood

b. interpreting information

c. expressing a feeling

d. making a value judgment

e. explaining a reason

3 Practice conversation: work with a partner. Respond to each conversation opener, in each response, include a sentence relative with the function shown in parentheses. When you are finished, practice each conversation with your partner.

Example

4 Practice conversation: work with a partner. Read the lines of conversation about a trip to the beach. Notice the sentence relatives. Then respond to each line. Make sure your response shows an understanding of the function of the sentence relative, when you are finished, practice each conversation with your partner.

Example

A: We should pack now, in case Pete wants to leave when he gets home, which is possible.

B: Yeah, he’ll probably want to leave right away.

1. A: I’ve gained a lot of weight, which is why my bathing suit doesn’t fit any more.

B: ...

2. A: Pete may not get home from work until 7:00 PM, which means we might not leave until 8:00.

B: ...

3. A: I hope we don’t have to drive after dark, which I really do not like.

B: ...