English Subjects

Reduction of Relative Clauses

Expressions of quantity in adjective clauses:

-->There are many people in this town. None of them was born in Alaska.
-->There are many people in this town, none of whom was born in Alaska.

-->There are a lot of things in this store. Most of them were made in China.
-->There are a lot of things in this store, most of which were made in China.

This adjective clause pattern occurs with any expressions of quantity:

Some of, many of, most of, none of, two of, half of, both of, neither of, each of + whom/which/whose

A noun + of + which is sometimes an alternative to an adjective clause with whose.

-->She has a computer. The processor of it is a Pentium.
-->She has a computer, the processor of which is a Pentium. (1)

-->She has a computer. Its processor is a Pentium.
-->She has a computer whose processor is a Pentium. (2)
(1) and (2) have the same meaning.

Changing an adjective clause to an adjective phrase:

Only adjective clauses that have a subject pronoun (who, which, that) are reduced to modify an adjective clause. In this case, there is no difference in meaning between the adjective clause and adjective phrase.

There are two ways to change an adjective clause to an adjective phrase. Both the subject pronoun and the be form of the verb are omitted:

-->The car which is left on the street is broken. (Adjective clause)
-->The car left on the street is broken. (Adjective phrase)

If there is no be form of a verb in the adjective clause, it is sometimes possible to omit the subject pronoun and change the verb to its -ing form:

-->The man who came yesterday knows how to repair the faucet.
-->The man coming yesterday knows how to repair the faucet.

If the adjective clause requires commas, the adjective phrase also requires commas.

-->The man, who was waiting for you, comes from Arizona.
-->The man, waiting for you, comes from Arizona.

A participle (~ing or ~ed) can often be used instead of a relative pronoun and full verb.

• The teacher punishes anyone breaking the rules. (=...anyone who breaks rules.)
• I live in a building having forty storeys. (=....building which has forty...)
• The house painted in red is where John lives. (= The house which is painted in red....)
• People invited are expected to be formally dressed for the occasion. (= People who are invited .....)