restrictive modifier adds information that is not essential to our understanding of the sentence; if we remove it from the sentence, the basic meaning of the sentence does not change. A restrictive modifier identifies, or limits the reference of, the noun it modifies.
A restrictive clause introduces information that is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive clause can be removed without changing the meaning. Restrictive clauses require no punctuation; nonrestrictive clauses are usually separated from the independent clause with commas.
You can begin with short independent clauses, and once your class is confident, you can introduce commas and dependent clauses. Try using different words such as if, whether, and that to help your students identify what types of clauses they are unscrambling.
A restrictive clause introduces information that is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive clause can be removed without changing the meaning. Restrictive clauses require no punctuation; nonrestrictive clauses are usually separated from the independent clause with commas.
One way to remember this is that nonrestrictive clauses are removable, and commas mark the removable part of the sentence. Restrictive clauses, on the other hand, are essential; they need to blend with their sentences seamlessly, without commas.
The type of clause determines what kind of relative pronoun to use. Generally, there are two types of relative clauses: restrictive (defining) clause and non-restrictive (non-defining) clause. In both types of clauses, the relative pronoun can function as a subject, an object, or a possessive pronoun ("whose").
An important consideration in this respect is whether a phrase or clause is restrictive or non-restrictive: it is restrictive if it is essential to the principal meaning of the sentence; it is non-restrictive if the principal meaning of the sentence is clear without it.
Restrictive Modifiers and Appositives: No Commas Required Restrictive modifiers and appositives are essential to identifying the noun or pronoun that they modify; in other words, if these modifiers were removed, the meaning of the sentence would change.
A restrictive clause introduces information that is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. A nonrestrictive clause can be removed without changing the meaning. Restrictive clauses require no punctuation; nonrestrictive clauses are usually separated from the independent clause with commas.
Clue 1: A noun clause contains a subject and a verb, but it is proceeded by a subordinating conjunction. Clue 2: The following subordinating conjunctions often start noun clauses: that, how, why, who, whoever, whether, when, which, or where. Example of noun clause in a sentence. Example 1.