Punctuating Nonrestrictive Elements

A nonrestrictive element is a part of a sentence that adds extra information but is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. It can be removed without changing the main idea.

You use commas before and after the nonrestrictive element to separate it from the rest of the sentence.

My sister, who loves to read, finished her book.

Restrictive elements are essential to the meaning of a sentence and are not set off by commas, while nonrestrictive elements add extra information and are set off by commas.

You place the nonrestrictive element inside parentheses to indicate that it is additional information.

The car (which is red) belongs to my neighbor.

You use dashes before and after the nonrestrictive element to emphasize the additional information.

The teacher—who is very kind—helped us with our project.

Nonrestrictive elements provide additional information that enhances the reader's understanding without altering the main point.

Yes, a nonrestrictive element can be a single word or a phrase that adds extra information.