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Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Modifiers
LESSON: A modifying element that follows a noun is set off by commas if it does not restrict the meaning of the noun. The commas mean that what they surround is not essential identifying information.
EXAMPLE:
One Way Rider, who sang last night at YSU, is one of this area's treasures.
The folk group who sang last night at YSU is one of this area's treasures.
The second sentence has no commas because the information in the WHO clause cannot be left out. Nothing else in the sentence identifies which group is being referred to. Such a word group is said to "restrict," "specify," or "limit" the meaning of what it modifies. When people talk about grammar they call this kind of modifier "restrictive." Only restrictive modifiers are not set off by commas.
Tell which of the following sentence beginnings could precede this ending:
. . . , which separates England from France. (The punctuation is what matters here. Note that there is a comma before the WHICH.)
Many notable swimmers have failed to swim the English Channel
Many notable swimmers have failed to swim the body of water
Which of the following items can fill the blank?
Columbiana was the home of . . . , who became an AIDS educator after contracting the virus at the age of sixteen.
Krista Blake
the girl
Which of the following items can fill the blank?
. . . which send me catalogues every week must be making big money.
Listening Library and Books on Tape
Companies
Which of the following items can fill the blank?
. . . , which send me catalogues every week, must be making big money.
Listening Library and Books on Tape
Companies
What is the meaning of the pair of commas in the following sentence?
Ringo Starr, who joined the band rather late, eventually became much more than the Beatles' semi-comic mascot.
You can skip the words between the commas because they are not important.
You can skip the words between the commas because they are not needed in order to identify Ringo Starr.
You can skip the words between the commas because the subject comes before them and the predicate after them.
Which of the two subjects below would be appropriate to begin this sentence?
. . . whom Aristotle Onassis threw over for Jackie Kennedy died in misery.
Maria Callas
The opera singer
Which of the two subjects below would be appropriate to begin this sentence?
. . . who hit high notes that have never been even approached by other singers was not very pretty.
Mado Robin
The opera singer
Which sentence opening can appear before this ending?
. . . , who gave her name to a peach dessert and a kind of toast that she enjoyed, came from Australia.
Nellie Melba
The opera singer
Which of the following sentences indicates by punctuation that Laura has more than one ex-husband?
Laura's ex-husband who is in jail is Jeff's father.
Laura's ex-husband, who is in jail, is Jeff's father.
Which of the following sentences indicates by punctuation that some but not all of the Ursuline nuns work with people living with AIDS?
The Ursuline nuns who maintain Casa Madre also work with people living with AIDS.
The Ursuline nuns, who maintain Casa Madre, also work with people living with AIDS.
If you added the clause "who spoke to our class yesterday" to the following sentence, would you surround it by commas?
Susie Davis said that hormones do not raise a voice once it has changed.
yes
no
Check the reason why no commas are used in the following sentence.
The transsexual who spoke to our class yesterday says that hormones do not raise a voice once it has changed.
"The transsexual" is not specific all by itself.
The definite article "the" makes "transsexual" specific.
The "who" clause identifies which transsexual is intended.
Part of your meaning would be lost without the "who" clause.
Read the following passage. Tell which clause would be correct in the blank.
I can remember Mother's old black Bible. Except when she was using it, it always sat on the mantle. I always wondered why that old volume . . . never fell apart.