Adjective Clauses - 4

Object Pattern Clauses

In addition to subject-pattern adjective clauses, there are also object-pattern ones. They have that name because in them, the relative pronoun replaces the object of the clause.

Examples
1. The man called me. We met the man at Rick's party.
The man who(m) (that*) we met at Rick's party called me.


The sentence with who(m) has an adjective clause: who(m) we met at Rick's party. In the clause, who(m) is the object, but the clause modifies (describes, explains, specifies) the subject of the sentence: the man.

2. I enjoyed talking to the man. We met the man at Rick's party.
I enjoyed talking to the man who(m) (that*) we met at Rick's party.

Again, the sentence with who(m) has an adjective clause: who(m) we met at Rick's party. Who(m) is still the object of the clause, but here, the clause modifies the object of the main sentence: the man.
   
3. The vacation was quite interesting. I took the vacation last week.
The vacation that (which*) I took last week was quite interesting.

The sentence with that has an adjective clause: that I took last week. In the clause, that is the object and modifies the subject



of the sentence: the vacation.

4. I enjoyed the vacation. I took the vacation last week.
I enjoyed the vacation that (which*) I took last week.

The sentence with that has an adjective clause: that I took last week. In the clause, that is still the object. The clause modifies
the object of the sentence: the vacation.

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Extra Notes:
1. Adjective clauses come after the nouns that they modify:
wrong: The man called me who(m) we met at Rick's party.
correct: The man  who(m) we met Rick's party called me.
wrong: The vacation was quite interesting that I took last week.
correct: The vacation that I took last week was quite interesting.




2. Do not use both an object pronoun and a relative pronoun in an adjective clause:
wrong: The man who(m) we met him at Rick's party called me.
correct: The man who(m) we met at Rick's party called me.
wrong: I enjoyed the vacation that I took it last week.
right: I enjoyed the vacation that I took last week.
   
3. The relative pronouns whom and that are used to refer to people, but whom is more common. Also, whom is used mostly in writing and very formal speech, but who is used for both subjects and objects in everyday conversation and casual speech.

The relative pronouns that and which are used to refer to things, but that is more common.