Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clause

The key difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clause is that the restrictive clause provides essential information to a sentence whereas the nonrestrictive clause provides additional information to a sentence.

Restrictive clauses and nonrestrictive clauses are two types of relative clauses, which are introduced by a relative pronoun. Relative clauses act as adjectives since they identify and modify the noun preceding them, and thus, referred as adjective clause too.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Restrictive Clause
3. What is a Nonrestrictive Clause
4. Similarities Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clause
5. Side by Side Comparison – Restrictive vs Nonrestrictive Clause in Tabular Form
6. Summary

What is a Restrictive Clause?

A restrictive clause is a clause that is essential to the meaning of the sentence since it provides essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies. It is for this reason we refer this clause as defining clause or essential clause as well. Also, as these clauses provide essential information, we do not separate them from the rest of the sentence by the use of commas.

Here are some examples of restrictive clauses:

The girl who looks like Jennifer Lopez is Tom’s girlfriend.

I couldn’t find the book that you recommended.

The writer whose article you read last week has met with an accident.

Children who eat lots of vegetables are more likely to be healthy.

My sister has eaten the cake that I baked yesterday.

The car that we want is out of our price range.

In all the above sentences, the restrictive clauses are essential to the meaning of the sentence. Omitting them would affect the overall meaning of the sentences. Furthermore, we can omit the relative pronoun in most restrictive clauses without making any change to the meaning or grammaticality. For example, “The car we want is out of our price range” means the same as “The car that we want is out of our price range”.

What is a Nonrestrictive Clause?

Nonrestrictive clauses are the opposite of restrictive clauses. These are clauses that add additional or non-essential information to a sentence. Since this information is additional, omitting nonrestrictive clauses do not create a change in the overall meaning of the sentences. Moreover, we always seperate the nonrestrictive clauses from the rest of the sentences by the use of commas.

Here are some examples of nonrestrictive clauses:

He lives in Galle, which is the capital city of the Southern province.
When we omit the nonrestrictive clause, the sentence appears as: He lives in Galle.

Charles Dickens, who wrote “Oliver Twist”, is a great author.
When we omit the nonrestrictive clause, the sentence appears as: Charles Dickens is a great author.

Kaylee, who is an accomplished dancer, is a mother of two children.
When we omit the nonrestrictive clause, the sentence appears as: Kaylee is a mother of two children.

The hypothesis, which he tested throughout the research, was rejected.
When we omit the nonrestrictive clause, the sentence appears as: The hypothesis was rejected.

Moreover, it is important to note that we cannot omit the relative pronouns in nonrestrictive clauses, unlike in restrictive clauses.

What are the Similarities Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clause?

• Restrictive clauses and nonrestrictive clauses are two types of relative clauses
• Both start with relative pronouns.

What is the Difference Between Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clause?

A restrictive clause is a clause that adds essential information to a sentence whereas a nonrestrictive clause is a clause that adds additional or non-essential information to a sentence. This is the key difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clause. Moreover, nonrestrictive clauses are always separated from the rest of the sentences through the use of commas while restrictive clauses are not. Another difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clause steming from the the key difference is that while relative pronouns in most restrictive clauses can be omitted, relative pronouns in nonrestrictive clause are essential and cannot be omitted.

Summary – Restrictive vs Nonrestrictive Clause

Restrictive clauses and nonrestrictive clauses are two types of relative clauses. The key difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clause is that restrictive clause provides essential information to a sentence whereas nonrestrictive clause provides additional information to a sentence.

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