Essential: (no comma)
A student who cheats on a test is only
hurting himself.
The cheerleader wearing the big hat is
attracting a lot of attention.
|
Non- Essential: (A
pair of commas)
Apples (,) which are my favorite
fruit (,) are usually harvested in
the fall.
Mr. Benson (,) grinning from ear to
ear (,) announced that the test would
be the very next day. |
Clues:
-
Can you leave out the
clause or phrase and still have the
sentence make sense?
-
Does the non-essential
clause or phrase interrupt the flow of
words in the original sentence?
-
Can you leave out the
clause or phrase and still have the
sentence make sense?
-
Can you move the
non-essential element around in the
sentence?
-
Does the clause begin
with that?
That
clauses which follow a noun are almost
always essential.
That clauses which follow a verb
expressing mental action are always
essential. No comma is needed in these
cases.
Examples:
That after nouns:
The book that I borrowed from you is
excellent.
Apples that are green are called Granny
Smith apples. |
That clauses which follow a verb
expressing mental action:
She believes that she will be able to get
the job.
He dreams that he can fly.
I contend that it was wrong to mislead her.
They wish that warm weather would finally
arrive. |
See
That vs. Which (Darling et al)
Dependent Clauses (Darling et al)
More on Relative Pronouns (Darling et
al)
Conquering the Comma (Powerpoint)
(Purdue OWL)
Rules for Comma Usage (Darling et al)
Punctuation Between Two Independent Clauses
(Darling et al)
Clauses: The Essential Building Blocks
(Darling et al)
Proofreading for Commas (Purdue OWL)
|
