{"id":31557,"date":"2026-01-12T09:19:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:19:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=31557"},"modified":"2026-01-12T09:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:19:22","slug":"reduced-adjective-clauses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduced Adjective Clauses\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Adjective Clauses <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An adjective clause or relative clause is used to modify or describe a noun. They are composed of a subject and a verb and are dependent clauses, which means that they do not mean anything without the main clause which is an independent clause. An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun such as who, whom, whose, that, and which. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced Adjective Clauses <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sentence is reduced when the same subject in the main clause and the adjective clause are the same. Adjective clauses use relative pronouns like who, which, or that. The reduced adjective clause is the adjective phrase. It does not contain a subject. An adjective phrase neither have a subject nor a verb. What it has is a present participle (base verb + ing) for the active voice or a past participle for the passive voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rules for Reduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An adjective clause can only be reduced if the relative pronoun (who, which, that) is the subject of the clause. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. If the clause has a be-verb (is, am, are, was, were), omit both the relative pronoun and the be-verb. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full:<\/strong>\u00a0The child\u00a0who is<\/em>\u00a0crying<\/em> there is her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced:<\/strong>\u00a0The child\u00a0crying <\/strong>there is her daughter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full:\u00a0The building\u00a0that was<\/em>\u00a0constructed<\/em> last year collapsed because of the earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced:\u00a0 The building\u00a0constructed<\/strong> last year collapsed because of the earthquake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. For active voice, omit the relative pronoun and change the main verb to the -ing form (present participle). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full:<\/strong> Students who study<\/em> in good universities have a lot of opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced:\u00a0Students\u00a0studying<\/strong>\u00a0in good universities have a lot of opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full:\u00a0The person\u00a0who called<\/em>\u00a0you yesterday was from the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced:\u00a0The person\u00a0calling<\/strong>\u00a0you yesterday was from the bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. For passive voice, delete the relative pronoun and the be-verb and keep the past participle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full:<\/em> The thief that was caught<\/em> in the other town committed many crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced:<\/em> The thief caught<\/strong> in the other town committed many crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full: The dishes that were prepared <\/em>earlier are ready now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reduced: The dishes prepared<\/strong> earlier are ready now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What It Can Turn Into<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Simple Adjective\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The relative pronoun and the be-verb are deleted and the adjective is retained and is placed before the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Full: An<\/em> employee<\/em> who is motivated<\/em> has a lot of enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Reduced: A<\/strong> motivated<\/strong> employee<\/strong> has a lot of enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Prepositional Phrase<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      The relative pronoun and the be-verb are deleted and the prepositional phrase is retained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Full: The pizza that is inside the refrigerator <\/em>is not mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reduced: The pizza\u00a0inside the refrigerator<\/strong> is not mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Full: The person who is in her mind<\/em> all the time is him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reduced: The person in her mind<\/strong> all the time is him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. Appositive Phrase\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The relative pronoun and the be-verb are deleted and the appositive phrase is retained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Full: Madrid, which is the capital of Spain<\/em>, has a population of over 3.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reduced: Madrid, the capital of Spain<\/strong>, has a population of over 3.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Full: Marta, who is the CEO<\/em>, delivered a speech during the board meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Reduced: Marta, the CEO<\/strong>, delivered a speech during the board meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Common Mistakes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Deleting the Relative Pronoun When It is Necessary<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Only remove relative pronouns like “who,” “which,” or “that” if they are followed by a be-verb (which is also deleted) or if the object of the clause is the pronoun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct (Full):\u00a0The woman who<\/strong> helped<\/strong> their family is so benevolent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct (Reduced):\u00a0The woman helping<\/strong> their family is so benevolent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect:<\/strong>\u00a0The woman helped their family is so benevolent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        2. Improper Verb Construction in Participle Forms<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        To reduce an active adjective clause, the present participle (the “-ing” form) is used. For a passive adjective clause, the past participle (the “-ed” or third form verb) is used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Present participle:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct: Families traveling<\/strong> together create wonderful memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect:\u00a0Families travel together create wonderful memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Past participle:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct: The new managers hired<\/strong> last week introduced themselves to their teams today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect: The new managers hire last week introduced themselves to their teams today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        3. Misplacing the Reduced Clause<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In order to avoid confusion or misrelated clauses, the reduced adjective clause must be immediately followed by the noun it modifies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct (Full):\u00a0The window which is in her bedroom<\/strong> needs a curtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct (Reduced):\u00a0The window in her bedroom<\/strong> needs a curtain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect:\u00a0The window needs a curtain which is in her bedroom.\u00a0= The curtain is in the bedroom, not the window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        4. Reducing Clauses with a Subject After the Relative Pronoun<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        A clause cannot be reduced if the relative pronoun is followed by another subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct:<\/strong>\u00a0Does he know the old lady\u00a0whom I <\/strong>was waving at? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        [“Whom” is followed by the subject \u201cI\u201d, hence, it cannot be reduced.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect:<\/strong>\u00a0Does he know the old lady\u00a0I was waving at?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        5. Changing the Meaning with Commas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The sentence’s meaning can drastically change if commas are misused with reduced clauses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The couples\u00a0getting married<\/strong>\u00a0should register at the city hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        [Only those couples who are getting married]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The couples, getting married,<\/strong> should register at the city hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        [Means all couples got married]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        6. Attempting to Reduce Certain Pronouns or Adverbs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Clauses cannot be reduced if they start with\u00a0“whose”,\u00a0“where”,\u00a0“why”, or\u00a0“when”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Incorrect:<\/strong>\u00a0We know a company\u00a0he can work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Correct:<\/strong> We know a company where<\/strong> he can work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Adjective Clauses  An adjective clause or relative clause is used to modify or describe a noun. They are composed of a subject and a verb and are dependent clauses, which means that they do not mean anything without the main clause which is an independent clause. An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[309],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"yoast_head":"\nReduced Adjective Clauses\u00a0 | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reduced Adjective Clauses\u00a0 | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Adjective Clauses  An adjective clause or relative clause is used to modify or describe a noun. They are composed of a subject and a verb and are dependent clauses, which means that they do not mean anything without the main clause which is an independent clause. An adjective clause begins with a relative pronoun such […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/phoneenglish.es\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-12T08:19:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-12T08:19:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@phoneenglishes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@phoneenglishes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PHONE ENGLISH\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/phoneenglish.es\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phoneenglish\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/phoneenglishes\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/phone-english1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/phone-english1.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":124,\"caption\":\"PHONE ENGLISH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"phone english blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/\",\"name\":\"Reduced Adjective Clauses\\u00a0 | phone english blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-12T08:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-12T08:19:22+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Blog\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#webpage\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74786b784a3d32102e60c20d61b651c3\"},\"headline\":\"Reduced Adjective Clauses\\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-12T08:19:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-12T08:19:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#webpage\"},\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Grammar\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/01\/reduced-adjective-clauses\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/74786b784a3d32102e60c20d61b651c3\",\"name\":\"katie\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31557"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31558,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31557\/revisions\/31558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}