Reduced Relative Clauses

Kenneth Beare is an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and course developer with over three decades of teaching experience.

Reduced relative clauses refer to the shortening of a relative clause which modifies the subject of a sentence. Reduced relative clauses modify the subject and not the object of a sentence.

Much like adjectives, relative clauses, also known as adjective clauses, modify nouns.

• The man who works at Costco lives in Seattle.
• I gave a book, which was written by Hemingway, to Mary last week.

In the above relative clause examples, "who works at Costco" modifies—or provides information about—the "man" who is the sentence's subject. In the second sentence, "which was written by Hemingway" modifies the object "book." Using a reduced relative clause, we can reduce the first sentence to:

• The man working at Costco lives in Seattle.

The second example sentence cannot be reduced because the relative clause "which was written by Hemingway" modifies an object of the verb "give."

Types of Reduced Relative Clauses

Relative clauses can also be reduced to shorter forms if the relative clause modifies the subject of a sentence. Relative clause reduction refers to removing a relative pronoun to reduce:

• An adjective: person who was happy = happy person
• An adjective phrase: person who was responsible for = person responsible for
• A prepositional phrase: boxes that are under the counter: boxes under the counter
• A past participle: student that was elected president = student elected president
• A present participle: people who are working on the report = people working on the report

Reduce to an Adjective

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb (usually "be," but also "seem," "appear," etc.).
3. Place the adjective used in the relative clause before the modified noun.

• The children who were happy played until nine in the evening.
  Reduced: The happy children played until nine in the evening.
• The house, which was beautiful, was sold for $300,000.
  Reduced: The beautiful house was sold for $300,000.

Reduce to an Adjective Phrase

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb (usually "be," but also "seem," "appear," etc.).
3. Place the adjective phrase after the modified noun.

• The product, which seemed perfect in many ways, failed to succeed in the market.
  Reduced: The product, perfect in many ways, failed to succeed in the market.
• The boy who was pleased by his grades went out with his friends to celebrate.
  Reduced: The boy, pleased by his grades, went out with his friends to celebrate.

Reduce to a Prepositional Phrase

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb "be."
3. Place the prepositional phraseafter the modified noun.

• The box, which was on the table, was made in Italy.
  Reduced: The box on the table was made in Italy.
• The woman who was at the meeting spoke about business in Europe.
  Reduced: The woman at the meeting spoke about business in Europe.

Reduce to a Past Participle

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb "be."
3. Place the past participle before the modified noun.

• The desk, which was stained, was antique.
  Reduced: The stained desk was antique.
• The man who was elected was very popular.
  Reduced: The elected man was very popular.

Reduce to a​ Past Participle Phrase

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb "be."
3. Place the past participle phrase after the modified noun.

• The car, which was purchased in Seattle, was a vintage Mustang.
  Reduced: The car purchased in Seattle was a vintage Mustang.
• The elephant, which was born in captivity, was set free.
  Reduced: The elephant born in captivity was set free.

Reduce to a Present Participle

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Remove the verb "be."
3. Place the present participle phrase after the modified noun.

• The professor who is teaching mathematics will leave the university.
  Reduced: The professor teaching mathematics will leave the university.
• The dog that is lying on the floor won't get up.
  Reduced: The dog lying on the floor won't get up.

Some action verbs reduce to the present participle ("-ing" form) especially when the present tense is used:

1. Remove the relative pronoun.
2. Change the verb to the present participle form.
3. Place the present participle phrase after the modified noun.

• The man who lives near my home walks to work every day.
  Reduced: The man living near my home walks to work every day.
• The girl who attends my school lives at the end of the street.
  Reduced: The girl attending my school lives at the end of the street.

Beare, Kenneth. "Reduced Relative Clauses." ThoughtCo, Jun. 7, 2024, thoughtco.com/reduced-relative-clauses-1211107. Beare, Kenneth. (2024, June 7). Reduced Relative Clauses. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/reduced-relative-clauses-1211107 Beare, Kenneth. "Reduced Relative Clauses." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/reduced-relative-clauses-1211107 (accessed September 5, 2024).

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