RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES

RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES

1. Relative Pronouns

   • Restrictive
     • Referring to a human
       • Who, whom, that
     • Referring to something other than a human
       • Which, that
     • Possessive
       • Whose
   • Nonrestrictive (with commas)
     • Referring to a human
       • Who, whom
     • Referring to something other than a human
       • Which
     • Possessive
       • Whose

2. Restrictive Clause

   • A restrictive clause restricts or defines the meaning of a noun or noun phrase and provides the necessary information about the noun in the sentence.
   • It is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
   • A restrictive clause is also sometimes called an essential clause or phrase.
   • Examples:
     • The student who sits in the back of the room asks a lot of questions.
     • The results that I obtained may invoke positive social change.
     • The journalist whose story I read yesterday has won prizes for her work.
   • When the relative pronoun functions as the object of the sentence, it can (and usually is) omitted from the relative clause
     • Example:The results I obtained may invoke positive social change.

3. Nonrestrictive Clauses

   • A nonrestrictive clause adds additional information to a sentence.
   • It is usually a proper noun or a common noun that refers to a unique person, thing, or event.
   • It uses commas to show that the information is additional. The commas almost act like parentheses within the sentence.
   • If the information between the commas is omitted, readers will still understand the overall meaning of the sentence.
   • A nonrestrictive clause is also known as a nonessential clause or phrase.
   • Example:I have found the article, which I have been looking for.With the nonrestrictive clause omitted: I have found the article.

4. Structure of the Relative Clauses

5. ADJECTIVE CLAUSES

   • RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
     • Are necessary for identification, tell exactly which thing or person
   • NON-RESTRICTIVE CLAUSES
     • Are interesting with extra information, but do not identify or tell “which one”

6. RELATIVE ADVERBS

   • the most common relative adverbs are:
     • where
       • place
     • when
       • time
     • why
       • reason

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