Do the exercises and put into practice what you have learned about adjective subordinate clauses. Check the answers commented out at the end of each exercise.
question 1
Classify adjective subordinate clauses into explanatory or restrictive.
a) The customer's documents, which were sent yesterday, were sealed.
b) The documents you requested are on your desk.
c) Visitors who came to the exhibition were dazzled.
d) Citizens who are dutiful do not need to be here.
e) Customers who are in default deserve the delay.
a) The customer's documents, which were sent yesterday, were sealed.
Subordinate clause adjectival explanatory, because it contains an explanation. It informs you that all the client's documents were sealed. It's like saying, "The customer's documents were sent yesterday. All were sealed. ". The explanatory subordinate clause is always separated by commas.
The meaning of the prayer changes without the use of the comma, as it restricts or makes a limitation, therefore, “The customer documents that were sent yesterday were sealed.” it is a restrictive subordinate clause. It means that only customer documents that were sent yesterday were sealed, but customer documents that were sent the other day were not sealed.
b) The documents you requested are on your desk.
Restrictive adjective subordinate clause, because it restricts, or reduces, the documents to only those you requested, that is, there are more documents, but only those requested were placed in the table.
c) The students who came to the exhibition were dazzled.
Restrictive adjective subordinate clause, because it restricts the information to a group of students, who are just those who came to the exhibition.
If we used a comma, this information would become an explanation and, thus, the clause would be an explanatory subordinate: “The students, who came to the exhibition, were amazed.”. It would be like saying: All the students came to the exhibition and were amazed.
d) Citizens who are dutiful do not need to be here.
Subordinate clause adjective restrictive, because it restricts information to some citizens, who are only those who fulfill their duties.
e) Customers who are in default deserve the delay.
Restrictive adjective subordinate clause, because it restricts the information to some clients, which are only those who are in default.
If we used a comma, this information would become an explanation and, thus, the clause would be an explanatory subordinate: "Customers, who are non-compliant, deserve the delay." It would be like saying: All customers are defaulters and therefore deserve the delay.
question 2
Identify the only alternative which is an explanatory adjectival subordinate clause.
a) The daughter who is a doctor lives in another state.
b) Young children who do not sleep in the afternoon are often irritated.
c) João's son, who lives abroad, was robbed yesterday.
d) The program I was giving was my favorite.
e) The car you bought yesterday is electric.
Alternative c) João's son, who lives abroad, was robbed yesterday.
The clause is subordinate to the explanatory adjectival, because it contains an explanation. Through it, we can see that João has only one child and that child lives abroad. It's like saying: "Joao's son was robbed yesterday. He lives abroad." The explanatory subordinate clause is always separated by commas.
The meaning of the prayer changes without the use of the comma, as it restricts or makes a limitation, therefore, "João's son who lives abroad was robbed yesterday." it is a restrictive subordinate clause. It means that John has more than one child, one of whom was robbed yesterday, and the one who was robbed lives abroad.
question 3
(IFPA - Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Pará)
Check the alternative where the highlighted passage corresponds to an adjectival subordinate clause.
a) I don't know if Father Bernadino will agree with me.
B) as night fell, I retired a little later and went to bed.
c) Susana, that she didn't feel well, she was in bed.
d) The farmer rolled his eyes and began to shake as if I had a badass.
e) It's right that the presence of the owner soothed him a little.
Alternative c) Susana, who was not feeling well, was in bed.
It is an adjectival subordinate clause, because the subordinate clause (which didn't feel good) depends on the main clause (Susana was in bed) and modifies it.
This subordinate clause that modifies the main clause has the function of an adjective, since it characterizes the noun “Susana”, and for this reason it is classified as an adjectival subordinate clause.
question 4
Identify the only alternative which is a restrictive adjectival subordinate clause.
a) The employee, who needs the declaration for tomorrow, is leaving.
b) The girl, who is outside, said that the matter is urgent.
c) I sent presents to my cousins, who had their birthdays this month.
d) I ended up with dessert, which was delicious.
e) I ended up with the coconut dessert.
Alternative e) I ended up with the coconut dessert.
This is a restrictive adjectival subordinate clause, because it specifies which dessert I've just finished. That means there were other desserts, but the dessert I ended up with was coconut.
If we used a comma, this information would become an explanation and, thus, the clause would be an explanatory subordinate: “I ended up with the dessert, which was coconut.”. It would be like saying: There was a dessert. She was coconut and I ended up with her.
question 5
Note the prayers below and explain your differences.
The children who painted the living room wall were grounded.
The children, who painted the living room wall, were grounded.
Although similar, the adjective subordinate clauses above have different meanings, which happens because one contains a comma and the other does not:
"Children who painted the living room wall were grounded." it is classified as a restrictive adjectival subordinate clause because it restricts or makes a limitation. It means that only children who painted the room wall were grounded, but other children were not.
"The children, who painted the living room wall, were grounded." it is classified as an explanatory adjectival subordinate clause because it contains an explanation. It informs that all the children painted the wall of the room, therefore, they were grounded.
question 6
(PUC - Pontifical Catholic University)
Check the alternative that presents a compound period where one of the clauses is subordinated to the adjectival.
The) "... I even asked none of them to give me faith: on the contrary, I tell them all as I am".
b) "Nevertheless, I don't hide from anyone the feelings I just showed."
ç) "... I confess everywhere that I am fickle, fickle and incapable of loving the same object for three days."
d) "But between us there is always a great difference; you deceive and I fail".
e) "- It's romantic... it's romantic... - exclaimed the three..."
Alternative b) "Nevertheless, I don't hide from anyone the feelings I just showed."
It is an adjectival subordinate clause, because the subordinate clause (which I have just shown) depends on the main clause (However, I do not hide my feelings from anyone) and modifies it.
This subordinate clause that modifies the main clause has the function of an adjective, since it characterizes the noun “feelings”, and for this reason it is classified as an adjectival subordinate clause.
question 7
Transform the subordinate clauses below adjectives into adjectives.
a) The people who have patience take more advantage of opportunities.
b) The children that are overweight need medical follow-up.
c) are hers, the words that convince…
d) Sorry, but these are attitudes I can't forgive.
e) I have friends who play sports.
f) Employees who have responsibility they live busy.
g) The students that apply get good grades.
h) You who is old crossed the street with difficulty.
i) We stayed at the uncle's house who knew how to welcome.
j) The story that moved was written by a child.
a) People who have patience make more use of opportunities. --> Patient people take more opportunities.
b) Children who are overweight need medical attention. --> Obese children need medical monitoring.
c) They are hers, the words that convince… --> They are hers, the convincing words…
d) Sorry, but these are attitudes I cannot forgive. --> Sorry, but these are unforgivable attitudes.
e) I have friends who play sports. --> I have sports friends.
f) Employees who have responsibility are busy. --> Responsible employees are busy.
g) Students who apply get good grades. --> Applied students get good grades.
h) The elderly woman crossed the street with difficulty. --> The old lady crossed the street with difficulty.
i) We stayed at the house of the uncle who knew how to welcome. --> We stayed at the cozy uncle's house.
j) The story that moved was written by a child. --> The exciting story was written by a child.
question 8
(EEAR - School of Aeronautics Specialists)
Mark the only alternative that brings, in excerpts of text by author José Saramago, an adjective subordinate clause.
a) It was a coincidence, don't think that I've been looking for words that start with the same letter...
b) You have already told me three different things, that there is no death, that there is death, now tell me that death and life are the same.
ç)... I just had to answer a few questions, which people I met in Brazil (...), what relationships have I created in Portugal since I've been here...
d) Fernando Pessoa closed his eyes, rested his head on the back of the sofa, it seemed to Ricardo Reis that two tears were appearing between his eyelids.
Alternative a) It was a coincidence, don't think I've been looking for words that start with the same letter...
It is an adjectival subordinate clause, because the subordinate clause (which began with the same letter...) depends on the main clause (don't think I've been looking for words) and modifies it.
This subordinate clause that modifies the main clause has the function of an adjective, since it characterizes the noun “words”, and for this reason it is classified as an adjectival subordinate clause.
As for the remaining alternatives:
b) You have already told me three different things, that there is no death, that there is death, now tell me that death and life are the same.
This is a direct objective substantive subordinate clause, because it complements the main clause. "You've already told me three different things" with the same function as a direct object (What do you said? That there is no death, that there is death…).
ç)... I just had to answer a few questions, what people I met in Brazil (...), what relationships have I created in Portugal since I've been here...
This is an indirect objective substantive subordinate clause, because it complements the main clause “I had just answering a few questions" with the same function as an indirect object (What questions did you have to answer? What people I met, what relationships I created...).
d) Fernando Pessoa closed his eyes, rested his head on the back of the sofa, it seemed to Ricardo Reis that two tears were appearing between his eyelids.
This is a causal adverbial subordinate clause, because it complements the main clause “it seemed to Ricardo Reis” with the same function as an adverb that indicates cause (Why did it seem to Ricardo Reis? Because of the two tears that came up on her eyelids).
question 9
(Unirio - Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro)
We can infer that there is an adjective clause in the prayer:
a) "Pardon, by God, pardon - answered the pigeon."
b) "The dove, which was white without exaggeration, cooed, humiliated and offended by the delay."
c) "Have you lost track of time?"
d) "The afternoon was so beautiful that I had to walk."
e) "The pigeon walked along the highest eave on the other side. A little further on, the seagulls screamed."
Alternative b) "The dove, which was white without exaggeration, cooed, humiliated and offended by the delay."
It is an adjectival subordinate clause, because the subordinate clause (which was white without exaggeration) depends on the main clause (The dove cooing, humiliated and offended by the delay) and modifies it.
This subordinate clause that modifies the main clause has the function of an adjective, since it characterizes the noun “dove”, and for this reason it is classified as an adjectival subordinate clause.
Furthermore, it is explanatory, whose complete classification is subordinate clause explanatory adjectival, because it contains an explanation. It informs you that the dove was white.
question 10
Is the clause below classified as a restrictive adjectival or an explanatory subordinate clause?
Influencers whose ideas are inconsistent do not win over the audience.
It is a restrictive adjectival subordinate clause, because the information it presents is restricting the type of influencers that do not win over the audience, that is, they are not all. It's like saying: Influencers who have incoherent ideas don't win over the audience, but those with coherent ideas do.
We can turn this clause into an explanatory adjectival subordinate clause if we separate the main clause from the subordinate clause with commas. Thus, "Influencers, whose ideas are inconsistent, do not win over the audience." it means that all influencers have incoherent ideas and therefore do not win over the audience.
Read too:
- Substantive Subordinate Sentences Exercises
- Subordinate adjective clauses
- Subordinate clauses