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 PRACTICE ON POINTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR

• Adjective Clauses
• That
• Who-whom
• Whose
• When-Where
• Wh-ever
• All of which
• The X of which
• That v. Which
• Some or All
• Which-clause
• Phrases [be]
• PresPart Phrase
• Adj Clause Qz
• More…

  Shortening Clauses to Phrases

Removing Wordiness from Descriptive Clauses

 

 

 

Clause shortening

ADJECTIVE CLAUSE	ADJECTIVE PHRASE
If the clause begins with a subject pronoun – that, who or which – you can shorten the clause.	Delete the pronoun – that, who or which – and the "be" auxilliary verb.
The seat [that was] next to me was empty. (prepositional phrase)	The seat next to me was empty.
The woman [who was] seated behind me was eating popcorn.  (passive verb)	The woman seated behind me was eating popcorn.
A talk show [which is] trying to improve its rating may plan a fight.    (active verb)	A talk show trying to improve its rating may plan a fight.

 

You can use that / which / who + (be) deletion rule with:

• "BE" verbs (in prepositional phrases) 
• passive verbs
• active verbs

 

 

Practice

Daytime Talk Shows

1. Join the sentences into one by using an adjective clause.
2. Then, shorten the clause if possible.

 

EXAMPLE:    A stage assistant   was hit with a water bottle.
[He was standing nearby.]

 

#	YOUR RESPONSE - SHORTEN THE CLAUSE	CHECK YOUR ANSWER
1.	A woman [She was angry at her husband.] she angry at her husband was angry at her husband angry at her husband told all her husband's personal secrets. [She was angry at her husband]
2.	A man [He was trashing his girlfriend.] he trashing his girlfriend was trashing his girlfriend trashing his girlfriend found himself face to face with her on stage. trash (v.) = to speak unkindly, or rudely about someone [He was Trashing his girlfriend.]
3.	A man [ He was separated from his brother at birth.] separated from his brother at birth was separated from his brother at birth he separated from his brother at birth met his brother for the first time on stage. [He was separated from his brother at birth.]
4.	A man [ The man was wearing a skirt.] wearing a skirt wearing a skirt was explaining how comfortable it was.   [The man was wearing a skirt.]
5.	A man [ He was arrested for smoking marijuana.] arresting for smoking marijuana arrested for smoking marijuana was talking about how unfair the law is. [He was arrested for smoking marijuana.]
6.	A woman [The woman was also named Monica Lewinsky.] her also named Monica Lewinsky also named Monica Lewinsky told what it was like to live with her name. [The woman was also named Monica Lewinsky.]
7.	Two women [They were wearing bikinis.] they wearing bikinis wearing bikinis were fighting in a pool of mud. [They were wearing bikinis.]
8.	Two men [They were married to the same woman.] married to the same woman were married to the same woman told everyone exactly what they thought of her. [They were married to the same woman.]
9.	A mother-in-law [She was jealous of her daughter-in-law.] she jealous of her daughter-in-law jealous of her daughter-in-law called her "an undeserving pig". [She was jealous of her daughter-in-law.]
10.	The host [He was standing in between two angry boyfriends.] in between two angry boyfriends standing in between two angry boyfriends was hit by a flying chair. [He was standing in between two angry boyfriends.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

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