##  [adjective clause](/writing-tips-plus/adjective-clause)

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A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb.

An adjective clause is a clause that acts as an adjective. That is, it modifies the noun or pronoun that comes before it:

- Dr. Bondar, **who went into space in 1992**, was our first female astronaut.
\[clause modifies noun *Dr. Bondar*\]
- Anyone **who is afraid of doing too much** will end up doing too little.
\[clause modifies pronoun *anyone*\]

### The three most common adjective clause signals

Most adjective clauses start with the relative pronouns *which, who* or *that*.

- This payment, **which is due on Tuesday**, should arrive on Monday.
- The person **who stole my purse** will get a bottle of water, three bandaids, a used kleenex and half a veggie burger.
- The jacket **that I bought last week** is already missing a button.

Relative pronouns can act as a subject or an object in the adjective clause. (For instance, in the examples above, the pronouns *which* and *who* are the subjects of the verbs *is* and *stole*, while *that* is the object of the verb *bought*.)

We sometimes omit *that* when it is the object of a verb or preposition:

- The jacket **I bought last week** is already missing a button.
\[= that I bought last week; *that* is object of verb *bought*\]
- I can’t find the envelope **I put the cheque in**.
\[= that I put the cheque in; *that* is object of preposition *in*\]

For more information, see the article [Relative pronouns](relative-pronouns-who-whom-whose-which-that).

### Other adjective clause signals

The relative adverbs *when, where* and *why* can also start an adjective clause:

- Noon is the hour **when the sun is overhead**. \[clause modifies noun *hour*\]
- The shop **where we bought the camera** was near the bridge. \[clause modifies noun *shop*\]
- I don’t know the reason **why Michel was late**. \[clause modifies noun *reason*\]

For information on how to punctuate adjective clauses, see the article [Commas with adjective clauses](commas-with-adjective-clauses).

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- [Commas](/fr/navigateur-navigator?search_api_fulltext=-&field_writing_tools=All&sort_by=views&f%5B0%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A491&f%5B1%5D=navigateur_navigator_english_theme%3A493#navigateur-navigator-resultats-results)

## Liens connexes

- [Writing Tips Plus](/fr/writing-tips-plus/index-fra) (page d’accueil)
- [Outils d’aide à la rédaction](/fr/outils-tools/index-fra)
- [Navigateur linguistique](/fr/navigateur-navigator) (permet de trouver rapidement des conseils linguistiques)
- [TERMIUM Plus®](http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra)