Revising and Editing
Reconsidering your ideas, examining your paragraphs, checking your style and grammar.
Commas with Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements
Sometimes there are word groups in sentences that describe nouns or pronouns. These word groups can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive.
Commas and Restrictive Elements
Restrictive elements are necessary to the meaning of the sentence. If a restrictive element is removed, the meaning of the sentence is changed, incomplete, or unclear.
Example:
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Shakespeare’s comedy, Much Ado about Nothing, is a series of pranks played on all the main characters. |
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Shakespeare’s comedy Much Ado about Nothing is a series of pranks played on all the main characters. |
The second sentence is correct because without the title of the play, the sentence is confusing: Shakespeare’s comedy is a series of pranks played on all the main characters. This doesn’t make sense because Shakespeare wrote lots of comedies and not all of them are about pranks.
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Commas and Nonrestrictive Elements
A nonrestrictive element is a word or phrase that isn’t necessary to the meaning the sentence. You know that you are using a nonrestrictive element when you can remove it from the sentence and the meaning will still be clear.
Example:
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I love to read books on historical events particularly about the English and Russian monarchies which is why I want to focus on teaching this part of history. |
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I love to read books on historical events, particularly about the English and Russian monarchies, which is why I want to focus on teaching this part of history. |
The second sentence is correct because even without the nonrestrictive element, the sentence makes sense: I love to read books on historical events, which is why I want to focus on teaching this part of history. The phrase particularly about the English and Russian monarchies adds detail, but it’s not necessary to the meaning.
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Source
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007.
