THE ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
=Function.=--A common form of the dependent proposition is the
adjective clause, so called not because it is equivalent to an
adjective, but because it performs the office of an adjective, that
is, modifies a substantive. It is true that some adjective clauses may
be changed to adjectives, participles, or prepositional phrases, but
there are many more whose meaning cannot be conveyed by any adjective,
participle, or phrase at our command. For example, in this sentence
from Macaulay,--“In climates _where wine is a rarity_, intemperance
abounds,” there is no equivalent simpler adjective element into which
the clause could be changed.
Moreover, a clause gives more dignity and importance to the thought
conveyed by it than a shorter adjective element gives. Often, too,
a sentence loses in definiteness by the abridgment of an adjective
clause. For example, the sentence,--“The statue that was made of marble
pleased me most,” may be changed to,--“The marble statue pleased me
most.” But, whereas the first sentence means that the marble statue
pleased me more than the other statues, the second may mean either the
same or that the statue pleased me more than some other objects, not
statues. In other words, it is clear that the clause is restrictive,
while in the abridged sentence it is impossible to decide whether
_marble_ is used to restrict or to describe.
Another advantage of the clause is, that it does not require to be so
near the word that it modifies as does an adjective or a participle.
Take the following sentence,--“No act of oppression has ever been
imputed to him _which has not a parallel in the annals of the
Tudors_.”--_Macaulay._ Here the clause is separated from _act_ by the
entire predicate of the principal proposition.
=Classification.=--There are two kinds of adjective clauses, according
to the purpose for which they are used in the sentence.
1. The _restrictive_ adjective clause.--This is one which restricts,
or narrows, the application of the noun it modifies to some particular
individual or class.--“He _who_ _never changed any of his opinions_
never corrected any of his mistakes.”--_Hall._ Here the clause points
out the particular individual designated by the pronoun _he_.
A restrictive clause is doubly expressive;--it says one thing directly
and another by implication. In the sentence quoted the clause implies
that there are people who do change their opinions.
Usually the restrictive clause is near the word it modifies, is not set
off by a comma, and is introduced by the relative pronoun _that_, or a
conjunctive adverb, or such a phrase as _in which_, _by which_, etc. No
adjective clause, however, should be tested by any or even all of these
accidents, but rather solely by the purpose for which the author used
it.
2. The _unrestrictive_ adjective clause.--This is one that merely adds
a thought to some idea already expressed. The additional thought is
often valuable, but it is never necessary.--“The window of the little
parlor looked down upon the water, which had made friends with its
painted ceiling, and bestowed tremulous golden smiles upon it when
the sun shone.”--_Howells._ The clause here is evidently not used to
point out which water is meant, but to tell something further about the
water, something unnecessary to the truth of the sentence, but valuable
in giving the reader a beautiful picture. Such a clause is sometimes
merely a definition or expansion of a term already used; for example,
“Style, _which is the peculiar manner in which a writer expresses his
thoughts_, depends to some extent upon the age in which he lives.”
=Introductory Word.=--The adjective clause, being a dependent
proposition and modifying a substantive, needs some word to indicate
its subordination and join it to its substantive. This word may be
several parts of speech.
1. A relative pronoun,--_who_, _which_, _that_. This pronoun, besides
serving as a connective, is a necessary element of the clause. It may
be--
(_a_) Subject of the verb,--“The nature of his subject compelled
him to use many words that would have made Quintilian stare and
gasp.”--_Macaulay._
(_b_) Direct object of a verb,--“So I had arrived in Venice, and I had
felt the influence of that complex spell _which_ she lays upon the
stranger.”--_Howells._
(_c_) Indirect object of a verb,--“We must be as courteous to a man as
we are to a picture, _which_ we are willing to give the advantage of a
good light.”--_Emerson._
(_d_) Object of a preposition,--“Other men are lenses through _which_
we read our own minds.”--_Emerson._
(_e_) Subjective complement,--“He will never be the hero _that_ his
brother was.”
(_f_) Possessive modifier,--“Its members are inflexible men,
_whose_ ability has been as frequently manifested as their
patriotism.”--_Howells._
NOTE.--To ascertain the use of a relative pronoun in a clause,
substitute the antecedent for the pronoun, and observe how the
antecedent is used. Sometimes this substitution requires a slight
change in the arrangement of the words of the clause. For example, in
(_e_) above, the clause _that his brother was_ becomes _his brother was
hero_.
_That_, when used as object of a preposition, must precede the
preposition; as, “Have you ever heard the Lady--the one _that_ I sit
next _to_ at the table--say anything about me?”--_Holmes._
_That_ is frequently omitted when object of a verb or preposition; as,
“One of the shop windows he paused before was that of a second-hand
book-shop.”--_George Eliot._
_As_ and _but_ are sometimes used as relative pronouns; the former
after _such_, _same_, _as many_, and a few other expressions, the
latter after an interrogative or negative antecedent, and as an
equivalent of the relative _that_ plus _not_; as, “There is nothing
born _but_ has to die.”
The relative pronoun _as_ may be--
(a) Subject of a verb,--“I went up from the cabin followed by as many
_as_ could mount the gangway.”
(b) Object of a verb,--“Chaucer has left us such a picture of
contemporary life _as_ no man ever painted.”--_Lowell._
(c) Object of a preposition,--“He was such a schoolboy _as_ a
discerning master delights in.”--_Mrs. Ward._
(d) Subjective complement,--“I shall probably never see just such
another day _as_ yesterday was.”--_Burroughs._
NOTES.--1. When _as_ introduces an adjective clause, the verb of the
clause is frequently omitted; as, “Their military code bore the same
stern features as their other laws (_bore_).”--_Prescott._
2. The use of the relative pronoun _as_ after _as many_ has been
extended so that we find it after _as few_, _as much_, _as little_;
as, “She was done for and bought for ten pounds by the landlord of
the Drummond Arms, Crieff, who had been taking _as much_ money out of
her, and putting _as little_ corn into her, _as_ was compatible with
life.”--_Dr. John Brown._
3. The word _such_, which usually precedes a noun modified by an
as-clause, may follow the noun instead; as, “The walls did not flow or
subside to the valley in charming curve-lines, _such as_ I have seen
in the wildest passes of the New England mountains.”--_King._ Instead
of transposing _such_, which would alter the meaning slightly, we
may say that it is a pronominal in apposition with _curve-lines_ and
modified by the restrictive adjective clause _as I have seen_, etc.
2. A conjunctive adverb.--This is equivalent to a phrase consisting of
a preposition and a relative pronoun, and is used interchangeably with
such a phrase. Its function in the clause is the same as that of the
phrase, that is, it modifies the verb. The commonest of these adverbs
are _when_ (= _in which_ or _on which_), _where_ (= _in which_ or _on
which_), _whither_ (= _toward which_), _whence_ (= _from which_).
Others less used are _wherein_, _whereon_, _whereof_, _wherethrough_,
_wherefrom_, _wherewith_, _whereupon_, _wherefore_, _whereby_,
_whereat_. For example,--
Our works are the mirrors _wherein_ the spirit first sees its natural
lineaments.--_Carlyle._
Some day you may reach that time _when_ a man lives in greater part
for memory and by memory.--_Lushington._
Yet all experience is an arch _wherethrough_
Gleams that untraveled world whose margin fades
Forever and forever when I move.--_Tennyson._
3. The subordinating conjunction _that_.--This is often used to
introduce restrictive clauses modifying a word denoting time. It is
equivalent to a phrase like _in which_; for example, “At last the
season comes _that_ the sixtieth minute is due.”
This connective is sometimes used instead of _why_ after the word
_reason_. It is frequently omitted; as, “The instant he understood my
meaning, he obeyed.”
=What the Adjective Clause modifies.=--The adjective clause may
modify a noun used in any relation, a personal pronoun, a pronominal
adjective, or any other substantive. Sometimes, instead of modifying
any single word, it modifies the thought expressed by the whole of the
preceding sentence, or by a portion of it. In such a case the clause
is introduced by the relative pronoun _which_. For example, “They had
comported themselves with such singular wisdom and propriety that
they were never either heard or talked of,--_which, next to being
universally applauded, should be the object of ambition of all ages,
magistrates, and rulers_.”--_Irving._ Here the clause modifies _that
they were never either heard or talked of_. In the sentence,--“His body
was of an oblong form, particularly capacious at bottom; _which was
wisely ordered by Providence, seeing that he was a man of sedentary
habits, and very averse to the idle labor of walking_,” the clause
modifies all of the sentence preceding it.
Sometimes in sentences of this kind the thought to be modified by the
adjective clause is summed up in one noun which is used as a part of
the clause, while the relative pronoun _which_ becomes a relative
adjective modifying the noun; as, “In 1835, Longfellow became Professor
of Modern Languages and Belles Lettres in Harvard University, _which
position_ he held for fourteen years.”
An adjective clause modifying a whole statement is sometimes placed
before that statement instead of after it. The clause is then usually
introduced by the pronoun _what_; as, “_What was worse_, he every week
lost more and more by bad money.”--_Jerrold._
NOTE.--The adjective clause may modify a noun or pronoun in the
possessive case; as, “The world is _his who has money to go over
it_.”--_Emerson._
=Position of the Adjective Clause.=--Usually it follows closely the
word it modifies, but there is a type of sentence in which the clause
modifies the subject and yet comes next to the subjective complement.
The following sentence is an example,--“It was coffee and not wine that
I drank.”--_Howells._ _It_ is here a personal pronoun standing for
_beverage_ and modified by the restrictive adjective clause _that I
drank_. The sentence means,--The beverage that I drank was coffee and
not wine.
Peculiar sentences sometimes arise from this construction; for example,
“It is only birds of prey that fear danger from below more than from
above.” Here the clause modifies the subject _it_, and the sentence
transposed reads, “It that fear danger from below more than from above
is only birds of prey.” This sounds ungrammatical, but it is the
interpretation of the original sentence.
In regard to the position of the connective, it is commonly the
first word in the clause; but when _who_ or _which_ is object of a
preposition, the preposition leads, and sometimes the subject of the
clause precedes the preposition and the relative; thus, “The largest
class of vessels is the full-rigged ship, _the distinctive mark of
which_ is that it has three masts, all square-rigged.” This arrangement
of words arises from the objection that some authors have to using
_whose_ as the possessive of _which_. If _whose_ were substituted
for _of which_ in the sentence above, the clause would read, _whose
distinctive mark is_, etc.
Sometimes the antecedent of a relative pronoun is omitted, especially
if it is a personal pronoun; thus,
“Who drove
Planted both feet upon the leaping share
To make the furrow deep.”--_E. Arnold._
Exercise 5
Select all adjective clauses in the following sentences. Tell
classification of each clause, what it modifies, its introductory word,
and use of that word (if any) in the clause.
1. Boy! bring to us the dish the like of which is not found among the
viands of kings.
2. How babies will poke those wonderful little fingers of theirs into
every hole and crack and crevice they can get at.--_Holmes._
3. Who that sees the meanness of our politics, but inly congratulates
Washington that he is long already wrapped in his shroud, and forever
safe.--_Emerson._
4. Immediately the small son of Shem ran off into the next room,
whence his voice was heard in rapid chat.--_George Eliot._
5. The parts and sails of the foremast and mainmast of a ship bear the
same names as those of the brig.
6. I said the other day that he had good solid prejudices, which is
true, and I like him none the worse for it.--_Holmes._
7. They habitually ascribed every event to the will of the Great
Being, for whose power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection
nothing was too minute.--_Macaulay._
8. Such of these holidays as related to the victories and pride of the
Republic naturally ended with her fall.--_Howells._
9. I live to learn their story
Who suffered for my sake.--_Banks._
10. Tennyson began to write tales and verse from the time that he
could use a pen.
11. There was a certain very dry land, the people whereof were in sore
need of water.--_Bellamy._
12. They have rights who dare maintain them.--_Lowell._
13. The Greek drama, on the model of which the Samson was written,
sprang from the Ode.--_Macaulay._
14. It is hard to realize that our remote ancestors were mere
barbarians, who by the force of numbers overran the world.--_Lord._
15. He pretended to pour out some wine, and drank the first glass,
after which he poured out another for his guest.
16. There lies before you for your pleasure the spectacle of such
singular beauty as no picture can ever show you or book tell
you.--_Howells._
17. Who goes that way must take no other horse
To ride, but Sleipnir, Odin’s horse, alone.--_M. Arnold._
18. Is there nothing you are acquainted with which they (_clouds_)
resemble?--_Tyndall._
19. Is it dark meat or white meat you will be helped to?--_Holmes._
20. Lady Carbery happened to be down at the seaside, whither my letter
had been sent after her.--_De Quincey._
21. Several slaves instantly appeared, whom he ordered to set out the
table and serve the dinner.
22. The wild thing,
Living or dead, is his who fetched it down.--_E. Arnold._
23. Daguerre invented the process of taking daguerreotypes upon
metallic plates, which invention soon developed into the process of
taking photographs on paper.
24. Not one of us, however busy or hard, but once or twice in our
lives has passed an evening with Goldsmith, and undergone the charm of
his delightful music.--_Thackeray._
25. It’s faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes
life worth looking at.--_Holmes._
26. Who asks does err,
Who answers, errs; say naught.--_E. Arnold._
27. It is those who remain indoors, therefore, who are exposed to the
utmost rigor of the winter.--_Howells._
28. Soon Stephen went down from the Hoe, and returned in the direction
whence he had come.--_T. Hardy._
29. Many times I have come, bearing flowers such as my garden
grew.--_Holmes._
30. What is more remarkable considering his century, he is not by any
means consummate or even eminent as a painter in words.--_Saintsbury._