Non-Identifying Clauses
Recall from the previous lesson that identifying adjective clauses were used to identify things. Non-identifying clauses do not identify anything; they simply add extra information. Take a look at the following example.
John and Saria, who have been married for many years, are a good example of a happy couple.
The clause who have been married for years doesn't identify the people we are talking about. The names John and Saria do that. This clause simply adds extra information about them.
Punctuation Differences Between Non-Identifying and Identifying Clauses
There are differences in how you say identifying adjective clauses and non-identifying clauses out loud as well! Non-identifying adjective clauses are enclosed by commas, whereas identifying adjective clauses have no commas around them. This means that you have to pause when you read non-identifying clauses.
- The man who is sitting at the front of the car is married to Saria. (This is an identifying clause, so there are no commas. You also do not read this sentence with a pause)
- John, who is sitting in the front of the car, is married to Saria. (This is a non-identifying clause. You need to pause where the commas are in this sentence).
Exercise
Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.