A Reduced Clause is Not a Skinny Santa (Part I: Adjective Clauses)

Isn’t studying a language fun?  The first exposure to “reality” is the best part.  High school students all over the U.S. study Spanish for one, two or even three years and then, during Spring Break their senior year, they go on a class trip to Mexico to actually use their Spanish for the first time.  And they can’t understand a bloody word.  Have you ever noticed that “natives” never speak like a textbook?


My moment came during my first year in Japan.  I had been studying from a textbook on my own and was slowly starting to figure some stuff out.  For example, if you want to offer tea to someone, you say “Anata wa o-cha nomimasu ka?”  By putting ka on the end, you make it a question and masu at the end of the verb makes if very polite.  “Would you like to drink some tea?” How lovely!  That’s why, when the middle-aged OL in the teacher’s lounge kept saying to me “O-cha nomu,” I thought she was telling me that she was going to have some tea.  I started to get confused when she repeated this for the fourth time.  Suddenly, it dawned on me!  She was asking ME if I wanted some tea.  Huh?  Where’s the ka?  (This would be similar to an American asking a basic English speaker “Want some coffee?”  Huh?)  My confusion was caused because I didn’t realize she was reducing the formal question that I had learned.


A reduced clause is a clause that has had unnecessary or understood words left out.  For example, you can shorten Before I go to bed, I brush my teeth to Before going to bed... because the subject of both clauses is I.  This is an example of a reduced adverb clause.  There are tons of reductions in English, but the good people at Educational Testing Services (ETS), also known as the wonderful company that makes the SAT test, just loves putting reduced adjective clauses on the TOEFL test, which they have also generously blessed us with.  My guess is that more than 10% of questions on Part II of the TOEFL test relate to reduced adjective clauses.  Learning to recognize them is a good step toward improving your score.


What are the most common ways to reduce an adjective clause?


By far the most common reduced adjective clauses are defining*, object** clauses.  They are also the easiest to reduce.  Look at the following examples.

• I forgot to bring the lunch that I made last night.
• Our son introduced us to the girl who he has been dating.
• I will never forget the day when my son was born.
• Is there somewhere where I can store my luggage for a few hours?

All you have to do is remove the relative pronoun.  (BTW - in informal English, that can almost always be used instead of who, when and where.)

• I forgot to bring the lunch I made last night.
• Our son introduced us to the girl he has been dating.
• I will never forget the days my sons were born.
• Is there somewhere I can store my luggage for a few hours?

The easiest way to identify these reduced clauses is to look for two nouns that are not separated by a comma next to each other.  These are similar to appositives, which are also reduced adjective clauses, but they are quite different.*** These are also the easiest reduced clauses for second-language learners to write.


The second most common reduced adjective clause comes from a defining subject clause that also has a form of the be verb in it.  This includes SVC clauses, continuous verbs (be doing) and passive verbs (be done).

• My wife made a dinner that was worthy of a king.  (SVC)
• The children who are playing in the pool are making a lot of noise.  (continuous)
• Who owns the car that is parked illegally?  (passive)

Just like the other reduced clauses, you start by eliminating the relative pronoun.  However, you must also eliminate the be verb.  You don’t have to do anything to the main verbs, though.

• My wife made a dinner worthy of a king.
• The children playing in the pool are making a lot of noise.
• Who owns the car parked illegally?

The third main type of reduced adjective clause is a little trickier.  How do you reduce a clause that doesn’t have a be verb?  The answer is: Carefully.

• A s’more is a camping favorite that consists of chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers.
• Anyone who takes this class next year will have to buy the new version of the textbook.

Just like all the others, you start by eliminating the relative pronoun.  However, you can’t just leave the verb as it is.  Otherwise, it will look like a main clause.  (You will have two main verbs but no connecting word.)  The second step is to change the main verb of the adjective clause to a gerund.  (This looks very similar to a reduced continuous tense clause.)

• A s’more is a camping favorite consisting of chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers.
• Anyone taking this class next year will have to buy the new version of the textbook.

Voila!  There you have it.  These are the three ways I have found to reduce an adjective clause.  Most reduced clauses are defining, but you can reduce non-defining subject clauses by following the same rules.  It doesn’t seem to be nearly as common though.  There are, however, some clauses that cannot be reduced.  You cannot reduce a non-defining object clause.  It just ain’t possible.  You also cannot reduce a clause that has a helping verb like can, must or will.


If you understand these rules and want to try reducing clauses in your own writing, be my guest.  It’s not extremely important to be able to do this, but it will make your writing smoother.  It is essential, though, that you be able to recognize reduced adjective clauses when you find one, especially on the TEOFL test.  The simplest test, when you think you’ve found one is to add that and the be verb.  If it works, it's a reduced adjective clause.  With practice, this will get easier and easier.

Go to Part II

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*For an explanation of defining and non-defining clauses, please refer to my blog on the subject: The Eternal Question: Which or That?


**An object clause is one in which the relative pronoun (who, which or that) is the direct object of the adjective clause.  A subject clause is one in which the relative clause is the subject of the clause.

• I just bought a new car. / Do you like the car that you just bought?
• The car has a GPS system. / I need a car that has a GPS system.

***There are two differences between these clauses and appositives.  First, most reduced object clauses are defining clauses, whereas most appositives come from non-defining, subject clauses.  Second, the two nouns of an appositive are the same person, place or thing.  With these reduced clauses, they are usually different.

I’m Such an Optimist, I’m Appositive (Part I)

What is an appositive?


An appositive is used in writing to give more information about a person, place or thing.  (People use appositives in conversation, too, but it’s really not that important.)  Appositives look like they break two cardinal rules of writing: Everything must be connected and If you have two nouns together, you must have one connecting word, either a preposition or a conjunction.  (These are appositives, by the way.)  Here are the signs of an appositive.

1. When you see two nouns, back to back, without a connecting word, you probably have an appositive.
2. An appositive is usually separated from the original noun by a comma.  (I will explain more about this later.)
3. The two nouns are the same person, place or thing.  Sometimes they are even the same word.

Here are some examples of sentences with appositives.

• My older son, Kai, is sixteen years old and my younger son, Skyler, is 18 months old.
• The most popular pieces of technology, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad, are all made by Apple.
• Last summer, I toured the Gettysburg Battlefield, the site of perhaps the most important event in U.S. history.

The purpose of the appositive is to identify the noun, to give more information.*  What are your son’s names?  What are the most popular pieces of technology?  What is the significance of the Battle of Gettysburg?  Most commonly, appositives give the name or title of a person.  (older son = Kai; younger son = Skyler)  Appositives are also used to connect lists of examples (popular technology = iPod, iPhone, iPad).  Obviously it is possible two have two or more nouns in apposition.  Appositives are also very useful for giving detailed descriptions of a noun (Battle of Gettysburg = the site of...), when a couple of adjectives is not enough.  I have seen several examples of the same word repeated three times, and each one is followed by an adjective clause, all of which describe the original noun, like this.

• One of my personal heros is Martin Luther King, Jr., a man who changed the course of American history, a man who believed that violence and hatred were never acceptable, a man who was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the country.

If you think appositives are very similar to adjectives clauses, you are absolutely right because an appositive is basically a reduced adjective clause.**  Appositives originally come from simple SVC adjective clauses.  For example:

• my oldest son, Kai   /   my oldest son, whose name is Kai
• pieces of technology, the iPod...   /   pieces of technology, which are the iPod...
• Gettysburg Battlefield, the site...   /   Gettysburg Battlefield, which was the site...

Easy peasey, lemon squeezy.  However, don’t be fooled.  Just because two nouns are separated by a comma, that doesn’t mean there is an appositive.  For example:

• After rugby practice, Kai went back to his room and took a long, hot shower.

Practice and Kai are together, and they are separated by a comma, but this is not an appositive.  First, there is a connecting word.  Practice is the object of the preposition after.  (Here's an appositive without commas.)  You could move this whole phrase to the end of the sentence and nothing would really change.  Second, the two nouns don’t have the same meaning.  Kai is a person (as much as any teenager is a person) while practice is a thing.  For these reasons, this is not an appositive.


Also, it is easy to get fooled by a compound subject or object that has three or more nouns.  For example:

• We made a picnic lunch, sandwiches and a bento, and went for a hike.
• I put my lunch, a bottle of water, and some bug spray in my backpack.

The first example has an appositive, because sandwiches and a bento describe the picnic lunch.  They are the same.  However, the second sentence does not have an appositive, even though lunch and a bottle of water are separated by a comma.  In this case, I have listed the three things I put in my backpack.  My lunch and a bottle of water are two of them.  Besides, a bottle of water is not a very good lunch.


Do you always need commas with an appositive?


My 90% answer*** is, YES.  If you write an appositive, put commas both before and after the second noun (and whatever might be attached to the second noun, like an adjective clause).  Because an appositive comes from a reduced adjective clause, they follow the rules regarding defining and non-defining adjective clauses.  (Click on the link to see a more detailed explanation.)


In a nutshell, you need commas when you add a non-defining clause to a noun.  A non-defining clause is an adjective clause that gives extra, bonus information the reader may or may not already know or want to know.  It’s kind of like the director’s commentary on a DVD.  You are adding it just in case someone might think it’s interesting.  Since appositives are adding definitions, extra descriptive information, lists and examples, most of the time, this is bonus material.


Of the approximately ninety sentences I pulled out of books, and probably many more I didn’t because they seemed very simple and obvious, only five didn’t have commas.  This is closer to a 95% rule.  It’s certainly not enough to lose sleep over.  Besides, once you become comfortable with punctuating adjective clauses in general, that will carry over to appositives.


These are the basics of appositives and I recommend that intermediate learners of English try to use simple appositives when they write.  However, learning to identify appositives is much trickier and much more important for reading comprehension.  If you would like to know more, keep reading Part II.

Go to Part II

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*In this sentence, two infinitive phrases are in apposition: to identify... and to give....


**A reduced clause is a clause from which several understood words are eliminated because they are unnecessary.  For example:

• Before we move to California, we need to sell a lot of stuff. / Before moving to California...  (We is the subject of both clauses, so it can be eliminated in the dependent clause.)
• You will do fine on your exam if you are well-prepared. / You will do fine if well-prepared.  (This is a formal, literary structure, but again, the subject is the same in both clauses.  Also, the “be” verb can very often be dropped in reduced clauses.)
• The car that is parked in my spot... / The car parked in my spot.

***A 90% answer is what I call an overly simplified rule that a language learner can use to make decisions.  It means that this rule works about 90% of the time, but if you always follow it, you will be wrong 10% of the time, which is still an A-.  In other words, for now, if you follow this simplified rule all the time, it’s good enough.  However, you will need to amend, or add to, this rule as your English becomes more advanced.

The Eternal Question: Which or That?

Students are constantly asking me this question, which refers to adjective clauses*. My dirty little secret is that I didn't know the difference or which to use until I was in my late 20s and in graduate school. Finally, in grammar class one day, my professor made it crystal clear with a very simple explanation. Hopefully I can explain it as well as he did. In order to understand the main question, we need to go back to some basic questions.

1. What is an adjective clause?

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. Most commonly, you put them in front of the noun that is being described, like:

• the noisy baby
• the fluffy dog
• a gorgeous wife

(And I am proud to say I have all three of these in my family.)

A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a sentence. For example:

• The baby loves to destroy the living room.
• The dog drives me crazy sometimes.
• My wife is a wonderful mother.

If I want to use these clauses to describe the nouns from above, I would connect them as adjective clauses, which come after the noun. If I were to describe my family, this is how I would do it with adjective clauses.

• I have a noisy baby who loves to destroy the living room.
• I also have a fluffy dog that drives me crazy sometimes.
• I am married to a gorgeous woman who is also a wonderful mother.

(I consider myself the luckiest man on the planet. Who could ask for anything more?)

2. How do you connect adjective clauses to nouns?

This is done with a small group of words called relative pronouns, which are:

• who / which / that
• where / when / why

For this entry, we will focus only on which and that. I will write about where and when at a later time. Relative pronouns, and the rest of the adjective clause, must come directly after the nouns that they modify**.

Adjective clauses can be divided into two types: defining and non-defining clauses. This is the key to understanding which and that and whether you need commas or not.

3. What are defining and non-defining clauses?

A defining clause is a clause that gives necessary information. Without the information in the clause, the reader cannot understand the sentence. Important information is missing.

• The book is very interesting. (What book?)
• The puppy is really cute. (Which puppy?)
• Kai paid for his insurance with the money. (What money?)

The information that you need to answer the questions is in the adjective clause. (Notice that the noun usually has the. It can also be preceded by a or be a plural noun with neither a nor the.)

• The book that I am reading right now is very interesting.
• The puppy that my friends just adopted is really cute.
• Kai paid for his car insurance with the money that he earned from his summer job.

In all of these cases, I used the relative pronoun that and there are no commas.

A non-defining clause is unnecessary. You still have a complete, understandable main clause without the adjective clause.

• Call of the Wild is one of my all-time favorite books.
• My friend's new puppy is really cute.
• Kai paid for his car insurance with his own money.

However, if you want to add some extra information that may or may not be interesting to the reader, you can add it with a non-defining clause.

• Call of the Wild, which I just reread recently, is one of my all-time favorite books.
• My friend's new puppy, which they rescued from the Humane Society, is really cute.
• Kai paid for his car insurance with his own money, which he earned by working at McDonald's.

Each of these non-defining clauses uses the relative pronoun which and has a comma both at the beginning of the clause and at the end of the clause. If you have one comma, you need the second (unless it's the end of the sentence, in which case, just use a period.)

To summarize:

When do you use that? Does that need commas?

• That is used with defining clauses.
• That is used to connect necessary information that the reader MUST have.
• You NEVER use commas with that.
• Nouns that are followed by that usually have the or a in front.

When do you use which? Does which need commas?

• Which is used with non-defining clauses.
• Which is used to connect extra, bonus information that may or may not be interesting to the reader.
• You ALWAYS use commas with which at the BEGINNING and END of the clause.
• Capitalized nouns are almost always followed by which.
• Nouns that are followed by which usually have my or this or a possessive noun in front.

I hope this explanation helps. If anything is unclear or you need more explanation, please ask. Nothing is ever perfect the first time no matter how many times you proofread.

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*Some people refer to them as relative clauses. Both names are correct and they mean the same thing.

**A common error that students make is putting the clause at the end of the sentence, like:

• Barack Obama is the 45th President of the United States, who grew up in Hawaii.

The adjective clause is describing Barack Obama, not the President, so it must move to the front of the sentence, as in:

• Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, is the 45th President of the United States.