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Thank you so much to Angela Donner for allowing me to guest post. I’m a weirdo (as usual) to most book-reviewing bloggers because I’m not interested in promoting a book. Instead, I’m promoting good grammar and usage . . . as well as my editing business, of course.
This month, I’ll be hopping along from blog to blog to share my knowledge on the nuts and bolts of great writing. I am a copy editor, proofreader, and author—published both traditionally and independently. I’m also raffling off Amazon gift cards to get you started on your editing bookshelves. You can contact me at [email protected], or, for more information, visit: http://ocdeditor.weebly.com/ At the previous site, I’ll also be keeping a list of the blogs I’ve visited and the subject matter I’ve shared.
I’ll warn non-word nerds that the language here is rather . . . technical. Just stick with me. You’ll get it. This is very important information to know so that you understand when to use which with a comma, that without a comma, who or whose with a comma, who or whose without a comma. If you don’t know the previous, your writing can potentially become muddy.
Let’s get down to business.
NONRESTRICTIVE AND RESTRICTIVE RELATIVE CLAUSES
If this information is a bit confusing or overwhelming, go through it slowly and understand the definition first, and then go back and understand what it’s defining.
Nonrestrictive relative clause: A clause beginning with which, who, or whose and adding nonessential information about the noun it describes or changes; a relative clause that narrows and identifies the head phrase. -The clause is always set off by commas . A nonrestrictive relative clause could be omitted without affecting the sentence's meaning (in the preceding example, My aunt is the subject of the complete sentence and the who-clause adds nonessential information). Also called nondefining relative clause; appositive relative clause.
Restrictive relative clause: A clause beginning with that, who, or whose that contains essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies. -It is never set off with commas. If the clause was deleted, the meaning of the sentence would be affected. Compare The snow that I walked in felt crunchy with The snow felt crunchy. The restrictive clause that I walked in identifies a particular thing (snow). A restrictive clause never begins with which. -Also termed defining relative clause.
That’s it. You made it through :-)
Thank you for reading. Join me tomorrow on http://ocdeditor.weebly.com/blog.html, where I will begin the first in my series on hyphens, em dashes, and en dashes.
BIOGRAPHY
Chryse Wymer is a freelance copy editor and proofreader whose main focus is on indie writers. Her clients have been well reviewed, and one was recently chosen as a top-five finalist in The Kindle Book Review's 2013 Best Indie Book Awards in his category: mystery/thriller. For some years, she has been particularly obsessed with William S. Burroughs’s writing, who happened to coin the term heavy metal ... her favorite music. You can contact her at [email protected], follow her on twitter: @ChryseWymer, or like her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChryseWymer
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