Commas with non-restrictive elements

Key Notes:

What Are Non-restrictive Elements?

• A non-restrictive element gives extra information about a noun in a sentence.
• It is not necessary to understand the main meaning of the sentence.
• If you remove it, the sentence still makes sense! ✅

📍Example:
👉 My brother, who lives in Delhi, is a doctor.
(Even if we remove “who lives in Delhi,” the main sentence “My brother is a doctor” still makes sense.)

Rule for Commas

Use commas to set off non-restrictive elements from the rest of the sentence.

📝 Pattern:
Subject + , + non-restrictive clause/phrase + , + rest of the sentence.

📍Example:
👉 The car, which was bought last year, runs very smoothly. 🚗

Difference Between Restrictive and Non-restrictive

Type	Meaning	Comma?	Example
🔒 Restrictive	Essential to meaning	❌ No comma	The students who studied hard passed the test.
💡 Non-restrictive	Extra information	✅ Use commas	The students, who studied hard, passed the test.

Common Non-restrictive Elements

1. Who / Which / That clauses
   • My dog, who loves to play, is very friendly. 🐶
2. Appositives (rename a noun)
   • Mr. Rao, my English teacher, is very kind. 🍎
3. Prepositional phrases
   • Hyderabad, in southern India, is known for its biryani. 🍛
4. Participial phrases
   • The girl, laughing loudly, ran down the street. 😄

Avoid This Common Mistake

❌ My friend who lives in London is coming tomorrow.
✅ My friend, who lives in London, is coming tomorrow.

👉 Without commas, it sounds like you have many friends and only the one in London is coming.
👉 With commas, it means you have one friend, and you’re just adding extra info.

Quick Tip

✨ If you can remove the phrase without changing the main meaning — use commas!

Summary

✅ Use commas to separate extra, non-essential information.
✅ Do not use commas for essential (restrictive) information.
✅ Think: “Can I remove it and still understand the sentence?” — If yes → use commas!