Who is ready to use an adjectival clause?? Who knows what an adjectival clause is?! It is a group of words that describes or adds details to a noun, but don’t worry . . . . you don’t need to say “adjectival clause” to use one! We will refer to these as the who/which clause.
A who/which clause is a clause that begins with either the word “who” or “which.” Use it to tell more information about a person, place or thing.
Examples:
Pyramids, which still stand in Egypt, are one of the wonders of the ancient world.
King Tut, who died as a teenager, was buried in the Valley of the Kings.
Egypt, which is in the desert, depended on the Nile River.
Notice that each of the italicized who/which clauses has a comma before and after it. That is because you could take it out of the sentence and still hae a complete sentence left. Try it and see! If you use a w/w clause correctly, this will always be true.
For more practice, simply throw out a noun and ask your student to tell you something about it and turn it in to a who/which clause.
The ground today . . . . Our dog . . . My best friend Joe . . . . This pizza . . . . Spiderman . . . .
Do a few verbally and then have your student write them down to get the hang of it.
A few words on the who/which clause . . .
* You only need to use “who” or “which.” Using both in a sentence, which would be quite frustrating, is not necessary.
* We generally use “who” to refer to people or inanimate objects which have been personified. The hare from the fable, who has been personified, is an example.
* We can use “which” for inanimate objects, which are not taking on the characteristics of people.
