17.

9 restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses

Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.

[00:00:02] We've been looking at how to form relative clauses. We've been using them to add
information to the nouns that come before them. And to finish now we're going to look at two
types of relative clauses, restrictive and non-restrictive.

[00:00:14] Restrictive and non-restrictive clauses modify the nouns in different ways. And we
have small grammar differences. A restrictive clause tells us who the person or thing is by giving
essential information that must be included.

[00:00:27] A non-restrictive clause gives us additional information that is nice but not necessary.
It can be excluded if we choose. Let's compare similar sentences in restrictive clauses and non-
restrictive clauses to see the difference in meaning and grammar.

[00:00:42] The person who discovered electricity was Benjamin Franklin.

[00:00:46] This is a restrictive clause. The relative clause, 'who discovered electricity was
Benjamin Franklin' tells us specifically who the person was. It is essential information that tells
us who we are talking about.

[00:00:58] As well notice that the restrictive clause uses no commas, the person who discovered
electricity was Benjamin Franklin. This tells us it's a restrictive clause and that all information is
essential. So restrictive clauses use no commas.

[00:01:13] Additionally we can say, the person that discovered electricity was Benjamin Franklin.
In a restrictive clause you can use who and that when referring to people.

[00:01:22] The person we talked about, who discovered electricity, was Benjamin Franklin.

[00:01:27] This is a non-restrictive clause. The relative clause, who discovered electricity, does
not give us essential information. It gives us additional, complimentary information. We don't
need the information in the relative clause, but it is nice to know more. Here the sentence
makes sense without the relative clause.

[00:01:47] The person we talked about was Benjamin Franklin, the relative clause is non-
restrictive, so we can erase it and still have our full meaning. Also notice that now we use
commas. The person we talked about, comma, who discovered electricity, comma, was
Benjamin Franklin. The non-restrictive clause is surrounded by commas. This tells us that it's not
essential, it's extra info or detail, but we don't need it.

[00:02:12] We can't use that anymore. In a non-restrictive clause you can only use who when
referring to a person or discussing an animal like a person.

[00:02:20] I have a chair that is made of wood.

[00:02:23] This is a restrictive clause, and for things that means we can use that and which. So I
can also say, I have a chair which is made of wood.

[00:02:31] We also know it's restrictive because there are no commas. And finally, without 'that
is made of wood', we lose all essential meaning.

[00:02:38] I have a chair, which is made of wood, for work.

[00:02:42] This is a non-restrictive clause. And for things in a non-restrictive clause, we cannot
use that. So here are our only option is which. I also see commas surrounding our relative clause
so we know immediately it's non-restrictive. Now the focus of our sentence is, I have a chair for
work. The description about being made of wood, is not the most important thing in this
sentence. The most important thing is that it's for work.

[00:03:07] They ate at the restaurant that I suggested.

[00:03:09] We have our final restrictive clause example. And the relative pronoun is an object in
this sentence. That means we can also say, they ate at the restaurant which I recommended, or
we can remove all relative pronouns. They ate at the restaurant I suggested. If it was a person
we were referring to with who, we could also choose to include it or not.

[00:03:30] Again, we immediately know this is restrictive because no commas.

[00:03:33] They ate at the new restaurant, which I told you about yesterday.

[00:03:36] And our final non-restrictive clause, and this time the relative pronoun is again the
object of the verb. But when the relative pronoun is the object of the verb in a non-restrictive
clause, for things and people, it must be included! As well, we cannot use that if talking about
things or people. Instead we can only use which with things and who or whom for people. And
here our most important information is, they ate at the restaurant. Saying that I told you about
it is just additional information. So not essential.