Commas with Nonrestrictive Elements

Front

What is a nonrestrictive element?

Back

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.

Front

How do you punctuate a nonrestrictive element?

Back

Nonrestrictive elements are punctuated with commas before and after the element.

Front

Identify the nonrestrictive element in this sentence: 'My brother, who loves basketball, plays for the school team.'

Back

The nonrestrictive element is 'who loves basketball'.

Front

What is the purpose of using commas with nonrestrictive elements?

Back

Commas are used to indicate that the information is additional and not necessary for understanding the main point of the sentence.

Front

Which of the following sentences is correct? 'The book, which I borrowed from the library, is fascinating.'

Back

This sentence is correct because it properly uses commas to set off the nonrestrictive element.

Front

What is a parenthetical phrase?

Back

A parenthetical phrase is a phrase that adds information to a sentence but can be removed without altering the sentence's fundamental meaning.

Front

Provide an example of a sentence with a nonrestrictive clause.

Back

'The car, which is red, belongs to my sister.'

Front

What is the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive elements?

Back

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

Front

Identify the error in this sentence: 'My friend who lives in New York is visiting.'

Back

The sentence is missing commas around the nonrestrictive element 'who lives in New York'.

Front

How would you rewrite this sentence correctly? 'The movie that I watched was amazing.'

Back

The correct version is: 'The movie, which I watched, was amazing.'