Can you explain why the comma used in sentence 1 is not correct as compared to the comma used in sentence 2? (from homework)
1. The stadium, that my favorite team plays in, seats over 81,000 people.
2. My father, who is an excellent reader, finished a 500 page book in one day!
Study this page and let us know what you think:
http://flang1.kendall.mdc.edu/4/414/L414lecture2/essentialClauses.htm
So...
In sentence 1, the adjective clause is needed to let us know what stadium we're talking about. So we don't need to use a comma.
In sentence 2, the adjective clause is not needed because we already mentioned my father as the subject. So, a comma can be used to set off the extra information about my father.
Sure! Let's analyze the two sentences to understand why the comma usage is incorrect in sentence 1 but correct in sentence 2.
1. The stadium, that my favorite team plays in, seats over 81,000 people.
In this sentence, the comma usage is incorrect because it creates a restrictive clause instead of a non-restrictive clause. The phrase "that my favorite team plays in" provides essential information, specifying which particular stadium we are talking about. Since it is essential information, it should not be set off by commas. Therefore, the sentence should be rewritten as:
"The stadium that my favorite team plays in seats over 81,000 people."
2. My father, who is an excellent reader, finished a 500-page book in one day!
In this sentence, the comma usage is correct because it creates a non-restrictive clause. The phrase "who is an excellent reader" provides additional information about the subject, but it is not essential to the main meaning of the sentence. It is merely adding extra details. Therefore, commas are used to set it off from the main clause. The sentence is grammatically correct as it is written.
To determine whether a comma should or should not be used in these types of sentences, you can ask yourself whether the information within the comma is essential to the meaning of the sentence. If it is essential, then it should not be set off by commas (as in sentence 1). If it is not essential, and provides additional, non-essential information, then commas are used to set it off (as in sentence 2).