Comma Down—Commas with Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Adjective Clauses / with Which, That, Who, Whose and Where

Let’s start by defining our terms.

A CLAUSE is a group of words with a subject and a verb.

• An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE (or MAIN CLAUSE) is a group of words with a subject and a verb that stands alone as a sentence.

The house is around the corner.

• A DEPENDENT CLAUSE (or SUBORDINATE CLAUSE) is a group of words with a subject and a verb that cannot stand alone as a sentence because its job is to modify something in the MAIN CLAUSE.

that I want to buy

• A RESTRICTIVE CLAUSE (or ESSENTIAL CLAUSE) is a DEPENDENT CLAUSE that is essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you were to take it out, the meaning of the sentence would change. It is not set off from the rest of the sentence with commas.

The house that I want to buy is around the corner.

(“That I want to buy” is information that is essential to the meaning of the sentence, so we don’t set it apart with commas.)

• A NONRESTRICTIVE CLAUSE (or NON-ESSENTIAL CLAUSE) is a DEPENDENT CLAUSE that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you were to take it out, the meaning of the sentence would not be affected. It is set off from the rest of the sentence with commas.

The house that I want to buy, which was built by aliens from Zormak, is around the corner.

(“Which was built by aliens from Zormak, while wildly interesting, is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. It just provides some extra information that the sentence could exist very nicely without. So we set it apart from the rest of the sentence with commas.)

Got all that?

It’s easier than it sounds. Let’s practice a little.

First, look at the italicized dependent clauses in the sentences that follow and decide if they are restrictive (essential) or nonrestrictive (non-essential). Place commas around the clauses that you think are nonrestrictive. (Find the answers later this post.) Notice that the rest of each example (anything not in red) is the stand-alone sentence (also called the independent clause or main clause).

1. The game preserve which has been in existence since 2009 is bordered by a stream that flows east.

2. The book that I wrote is in the library.

3. The car that was a gift from my family was the best one that I ever had.

4. Those green bird feeders which have been in the garage for years are the cardinals’ favorites.

5. Our cat’s favorite toy is a stuffed penguin that she seems to think is a mouse.

6. The toast that Millie made is crumbly and burnt.

7. That woodpecker which could easily peck on a tree prefers to peck on my house.

8. Don’t tell me things that I already know.

9. The lemon meringue pie which I baked from scratch is the best one on the table.

10. The music that I’m trying to learn in choir is making my brain which is too old for all this fold over on itself.

The answers to the following questions appear just below this exercise. Try to answer them on your own before scrolling down. See what you’ve noticed.

What do all of the clauses have in common?

What do your restrictive clauses have in common?

What to your nonrestrictive clauses have in common?

Brief Interlude To Keep Your Eyes From Scootching Down To The Answers Before You’re Ready!

Welcome back.

So, the previous exercise shows that three things are true.

• Both restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses give more information about a noun. This makes them adjectives.
• Restrictive (essential) clauses that begin with “that” do not take commas. If you take them out, the sentence either doesn’t make sense or doesn’t mean the same thing.
• Nonrestrictive (nonessential) clauses that begin with “which” do take commas. If you take them out, you lose some extra information. But the sense and meaning of the main sentence remain intact. 

Of course, there’s more to it than this. Restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses can also begin with words like who, whose, who’s, when or where.

Was that kid who stole my lunch mean or just hungry?

That woman who’s texting on her phone just walked into the light pole.

I haven’t forgotten the time when you lied to my face, you lying liar who lies!

Do you know the place where Jillian got her new alpaca?

That’s the guy whose book just won a Pulitzer!

And sometimes the same clause could be either restrictive or nonrestrictive, depending on the intention of the writer. Look how the meaning shifts when I add commas to these sentences.

Was that kid, who stole my lunch, mean or just hungry?

That woman, who’s texting on her phone, just walked into the light pole.

And that’s why what I’m about to say is so important. (Warning: Tirade Ahead)

Tirade!!!!

The only reason for doing any of this is so that you can use our system of writing to convey meaning to another human being. You have these methods at your disposal to make your intention as clear as you can to a reader.

Commas, and punctuation in general, can be a pain to learn. Sometimes the rules seem arbitrary or variable. But if learning them means that you can gain a facility with written language to make yourself understood, then it’s worth the effort.

If you set a dependent clause off with commas, then you have sent a message to your reader. For instance:

       My aunt, whose portrait hangs in the Louvre, has invited me to come to Paris.

        My aunt whose portrait hangs in the Louvre has invited me to come to Paris.

The first sentence tells me that the invitation is the thing that you want me to notice and that the portrait part, while interesting, is extra, by-the-way info. The second sentence tells me that the portrait info is essential because it distinguishes this aunt from all your other aunts who might have invited you to Paris. The difference is subtle but real and happens because of the commas.

This power is yours if you can harness it!

End of Tirade

Answers to Previous Exercise

Before we go on, take a minute to compare these answers to yours. Make any necessary corrections in your work. Be sure that you can explain why each adjective clause is restrictive (essential) or nonrestrictive (nonessential) in the context of its sentence.

1. The game preserve, which has been in existence since 2009, is bordered by a stream that flows east.

2. The book that I wrote is in the library.

3. The car that was a gift from my family was the best one that I ever had.

4. Those green bird feeders, which have been in the garage for years, are the cardinals’ favorites.

5. Our cat’s favorite toy is a stuffed penguin that she seems to think is a mouse.

6. The toast that Millie made is crumbly and burnt.

7. That woodpecker, which could easily peck on a tree, prefers to peck on my house.

8. Don’t tell me things that I already know.

9. The lemon meringue pie, which I baked from scratch, is the best one on the table.

10. The music that I’m trying to learn in choir is making my brain, which is too old for all this, fold over on itself.

Some more practice: (Answers on Compound Subject #1 post)

A. Underline the adjective clauses in the paragraph below. Place commas around any that are nonrestrictive.

The wind that had blown for hours finally calmed. The rain which started yesterday kept on until the stream rose and lapped the back doorstep. Serena who didn’t sleep at all last night was both grateful for the daylight and fearful of what it would reveal. When she looked out on the property, she saw the small vegetable garden that she had just planted under a foot of water and the larger botanical garden that the place was known for swamped with mud and debris. The grove of birches which was planted by her ancestors struggled to remain erect and she feared they would fall before the storm which was the worst in her memory packed up the last of its bluster and moved on. Serena who was eighty-six and childless was the last of her line. She worked all her life to preserve this property which began with the sweat of her great-great grandparents on her own. But she was too old and too alone to come back from a storm like this. She sat in the old rocker which had been in the house for over a hundred years put her face in her hands and cried.

B. Add a dependent adjective clause in each blank. (Start each clause with that or which. You could also use who, whose, when or where if they fit better.) Decide if each of your additions is restrictive or nonrestrictive and add commas where necessary.

1. The affectionate cat_____made a much better pet than the crazy iguana_____.
2. I wish I could remember the place_____.
3. The tree_____has been growing in the park_____for a century.
4. I wish I knew when the train_____will get here. I’ve been standing on a platform_____for way too long.
5. Do you remember the time_____and then had to face the boss_____?
6. Sassy’s third husband_____gave her a birthday gift_____, so she divorced him.
7. My feet_____don’t like shoes_____.
8. The Queen_____walked out of the palace_____ dressed like a commoner_____.
9. The exercise class_____was grueling so, afterwards, we went to our favorite coffee shop for a breakfast_____.
10. Exhausted from a weekend_____, Billie curled up with the book_____.

C. Write an original description of a place that is meaningful to you. Then go back. Underline the dependent adjective clauses and place commas around any that are nonrestrictive. If you don’t have any, insert a few and see the difference in makes in your description.

Whew!

This was a long one.

Kudos to you for sticking with it to the end. Hope that this practice gives you that much more confidence in your writing decisions.

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