(E)Essential and (NON)nonessential clauses
check if these are right. do any sentence need commas? thx
1. the explorers whom i most admire are astronauts. (E)
2. one man who made space travel possible was Robert.(E)
3.goddard who tested many rockets helped develop liquid fuel. (E)
4. space which is very dangerous began with uncrewed spacecraft. (NON)
5.the soviet union was the first satellite which they called suptnik. (NON)
6. the US whose first satellite was called explorer I followed the soviet union 4 months later.(E)
7. yuri who was the soviet union's first traveled into space. (E)
8. alan shepard became the american astronaut orbited earth once.(E)
9. one event that really captured americans' attention was the space walk of edward white. (E)
10. White who had so much fun on the walk was finally ordered back into the spacecraft by mission control. (E)
11. the apollo program which we studied this year was the american moon landing project. (NON)
Incorrect: #s 3, 7, 10
#s 6 and 8 don't make any sense.
Non-essential clauses need two commas each (unless the clause comes at the end of the sentence). See #4 in the linked webpage below:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
1. The explorers whom I most admire are astronauts. (E) - Correct. No comma is needed as the clause "whom I most admire" is essential to identifying which explorers the sentence is referring to.
2. One man who made space travel possible was Robert. (E) - Correct. No comma is needed in this sentence as the clause "who made space travel possible" is essential to identifying which man is being discussed.
3. Goddard, who tested many rockets, helped develop liquid fuel. (E) - Incorrect. The use of commas in this sentence is incorrect. The clause "who tested many rockets" is essential to identifying which Goddard is being referred to. It should be written as "Goddard who tested many rockets helped develop liquid fuel."
4. Space, which is very dangerous, began with uncrewed spacecraft. (NON) - Correct. The commas are correctly used in this sentence. The clause "which is very dangerous" provides additional information about "space" but is not essential to the sentence's main meaning.
5. The Soviet Union was the first satellite, which they called Sputnik. (NON) - Incorrect. The comma in this sentence is misplaced. It should be written as "The Soviet Union was the first to launch a satellite, which they called Sputnik." The clause "which they called Sputnik" provides additional information about the satellite.
6. The US, whose first satellite was called Explorer I, followed the Soviet Union 4 months later. (E) - Correct. The use of commas in this sentence is correct. The clause "whose first satellite was called Explorer I" provides additional information about the United States.
7. Yuri, who was the Soviet Union's first, traveled into space. (E) - Correct. The use of commas in this sentence is correct. The clause "who was the Soviet Union's first" provides additional information about Yuri.
8. Alan Shepard became the American astronaut, orbited Earth once. (E) - Incorrect. The comma in this sentence is misplaced. It should be written as "Alan Shepard, who became the American astronaut, orbited Earth once." The clause "who became the American astronaut" provides essential information about Alan Shepard.
9. One event that really captivated Americans' attention was the space walk of Edward White. (E) - Correct. No comma is needed in this sentence as the clause "that really captivated Americans' attention" is essential to identifying which event is being discussed.
10. White, who had so much fun on the walk, was finally ordered back into the spacecraft by mission control. (E) - Correct. The use of commas in this sentence is correct. The clause "who had so much fun on the walk" provides additional information about White.
11. The Apollo program, which we studied this year, was the American moon landing project. (NON) - Correct. The use of commas in this sentence is correct. The clause "which we studied this year" provides additional information about the Apollo program.