Nonrestrictive Clause: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what a nonrestrictive clause is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on nonrestrictive clause, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What is a nonrestrictive clause?

According to K12 Reader, a nonrestrictive clause is one that is not necessary to the clarity of a sentence. A dependent, or subordinate, clause contains a subject and a verb or verb phrase but does not express a complete thought. These clauses can function either as noun clauses, adjective clauses, or adverb clauses. Non-restrictive clauses, also called nonessential clauses, often start with which, who, whom, whose, and more. The word that is used for restrictive clauses or essential clauses. Nonrestrictive clauses introduce additional information that is not essential information and is not crucial to the meaning of a sentence. Often, these clauses are introduced with commas unlike a restrictive element. The use of a nonrestrictive clause is to add a group of words with additional information that is useful but not necessary. Determine whether the use of a nonrestrictive clause or a restrictive adjective clause is more useful depending on the complete sentence.

What are examples of nonrestrictive clauses?

Take a look at these examples from Soft Schools and K12 Reader:

  •  Mary, whose mom is a nurse, sits behind me in class.
  •  The pomegranate, which is a large type of fruit, thrives in warmer climates.
  •  My grandfather, who lives on a farm, said he would teach me to ride a horse.
  •  The park, which has a beach area , allows dogs to go swimming in the lake.
  •  Mr. Evers, whose son played on my basketball team , will be our track coach next year.
  •  Nathan, whose sister is my best friend , will be coming on the trip with us.
  •  My coworker Patrick, whom I told you about , will be joining us for dinner tonight.
  •  Lisa, who takes ballet with Jan, is my best friend.
  •  I won first prize, which was a blue ribbon.
  •  Olives, which come in many different varieties , are common in Mediterranean dishes.
  •  Manuel, whom I accompanied to the wedding, is hosting a birthday party this weekend.
  •  My new dress is green, which is my favorite color .
  •  Redwood trees, which grow in California, can be over 350 feet tall.
  •  Cherisse, who took an art class with me this summer , will have her work displayed at a local gallery.
  •  The school library, which is next to the cafeteria, is my favorite place in the school!
  •  The journalist, who came back from London yesterday, bought some new sturdy shoes.
  •  The local library, which stocks books in British English and American English, hosted a talk for participants in the back of the room on the topic of positive social change.
  •  Kaylee, who was a unique person and won many prizes at the fair, asked a lot of questions to the Americans.
  •  My brother Ken, whose favorite book is on malaria, went to the writing center for help with his essay on the TV ratings company.
  •  The native guides, who took us on our tour of the rainforest, sold us a shirt and some supplements.
  •  Mari, whose favorite treat was a brownie, impressed Microsoft with her own writing.
  •  The cat, who was adopted last summer, is sitting on the windowsill looking at birds.
  •  Samuel, the exact person who I was looking for yesterday, is on vacation with his entire family in Bora Bora.
  •  Melissa, who is a twin, went down to the river to fish with her girlfriend and her family.

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these terms because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of grammatical devices from OED and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you. 

  •  singular
  •  to-infinitive
  •  second person
  •  clause
  •  definite article
  •  pronoun (pron.)
  •  causative
  •  premodify | premodifier
  •  part of speech
  •  phrase (phr.)
  •  similative
  •  postmodify | postmodifier
  •  modify | modifier
  •  double object
  •  prepositional object
  •  dual
  •  element
  •  past participle
  •  passive
  •  transitive
  •  adverb (adv.)
  •  locative
  •  possessive
  •  neuter
  •  interrogative
  •  pleonasm | pleonastic
  •  pro-form
  •  subjective
  •  appositive
  •  adjective
  •  tense
  •  instrumental
  •  conditional
  •  number
  •  concrete
  •  progressive
  •  abstract
  •  feminine
  •  gerund
  •  morpheme
  •  noun (n.)
  •  common noun
  •  indirect object
  •  object | direct object | indirect object
  •  participial adjective
  •  person
  •  modal verb | modal auxiliary verb | modal auxiliary
  •  that-clause
  •  plural
  •  past tense
  •  non-referential
  •  main clause
  •  optative
  •  present participle
  •  filler
  •  intensifier
  •  genitive
  •  indirect question
  •  anaphoric
  •  head
  •  count noun
  •  mass noun
  •  anticipatory
  •  prefix
  •  conjunction (conj.)
  •  unmarked genitive
  •  simple
  •  interjection
  •  indirect speech
  •  verb (v.)
  •  gender
  •  predicate
  •  imperative (imper.)
  •  complementary
  •  combining form (comb. form)
  •  cognate object
  •  absolute (absol.)
  •  agree | agreement
  •  predicative
  •  proper noun | proper name
  •  possessive adjective
  •  sentence adverb |sentence adverbial
  •  first person
  •  passive infinitive
  •  subjunctive
  •  periphrasis | periphrastic
  •  mood
  •  declarative
  •  special use
  •  present tense
  •  apodosis and protasis
  •  adverbial | adverbially
  •  indicative
  •  impersonal (impers.)
  •  stem
  •  relative
  •  masculine
  •  prepositional phrase
  •  possessive pronoun
  •  direct speech
  •  perfect
  •  noun phrase
  •  auxiliary verb | auxiliary
  •  reflexive
  •  suffix
  •  direct object
  •  parenthetical | parenthetically
  •  attributive
  •  determiner
  •  indefinite
  •  cataphoric
  •  indirect passive
  •  active
  •  direct question
  •  copular verb | copula
  •  quasi-
  •  accusative
  •  bare infinitive
  •  apposition
  •  objective
  •  subordinate clause
  •  demonstrative
  •  dative
  •  complement
  •  collective noun
  •  infinitive
  •  prepositional passive
  •  collocation | collocate
  •  phrasal verb
  •  case
  •  zero
  •  preposition (prep.)
  •  ellipsis | elliptical
  •  agent noun
  •  participle | past participle | present participle
  •  antecedent
  •  subject
  •  non-finite
  •  nominative
  •  parasynthetic
  •  nominal relative | nominal relative clause
  •  compound | compounding
  •  positive
  •  third-person
  •  base form
  •  article
  •  construed (const., constr.)
  •  combination
  •  personal pronoun
  •  inflection | inflected | inflectional
  •  superlative
  •  intransitive
  •  comparative
  •  verbal noun
  •  construction
  •  protasis
  •  finite
  •  vocative
  •  main verb

Overall, a nonrestrictive clause is a descriptive clause that provides non-essential information to the sentence.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of grammatical terms | OED 
  2. What is a Nonrestrictive Clause? Nonrestrictive Clause Examples – K12reader
  3. Essential and Nonessential Adjective Clauses Examples | Soft Schools