Adjectival Clause

Adjectival clause. That’s a mouthful, but don’t worry. It is pretty simple. An adjectival clause is a clause (an incomplete sentence or collection of words) that describes the noun that comes before it. You then use ‘the’ before that noun.

For example, Do you know the guy who’s shaking hands with Dave (that’s the adjectival clause, get it? The guy is the one shaking hands with Dave.) Or The software I just uploaded crashed my computer.

Here are some more:

What do you think of the new house that I bought?

I want to rent the cottage located on the west side of the lake. (There is only one cottage on the west side of the lake, and that’s the one I’d like to rent.)

I don’t like the Jimmy Choo shoes that you bought. (Which shoes? Why, the incredibly overpriced, I mean, the Jimmy Choos you purchased.)

That’s the doll I had as a kid. (Which doll? The one I held in my arms when I was, like, three years old.)

The cubic zirconia ring you gave your wife for your anniversary is really cheap-looking. (We are referring to only one cheap cubic zirconia ring, and your wife will probably never forgive you.)