Welcome to the Purdue OWL Exercise Pages

Exercise : Commas with Nonessential Elements Exercise 2

Are the essential and nonessential elements in the following sentences punctuated correctly? If they are correct, write a C on the line to the left. If they are incorrect, put an X on the line. Do you know why the punctuation is correct or incorrect?

_____ 1. The woman who did not attend the meeting said that she had to study for her chemistry exam.

_____ 2. He did not however intend to return the money he borrowed.

_____ 3. West Point cadets, who break the honor code, are expelled.

_____ 4. She was as a matter of fact chiefly interested in becoming a Hollywood celebrity.

_____ 5. Raul's wife, Conchita, is president of the local Red Cross.

_____ 6. The German writer, Hermann Hesse, is a favorite with American college students.

_____ 7. The courthouse which was renovated recently was built in 1878.

_____ 8. Saul having forgotten to save his work lost all of his revisions when his computer crashed.

_____ 9. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, wrote his handbook of spiritual exercises in the sixteenth century.

_____ 10. The book, that your sister gave you for your birthday, won a National Book Award.

Answer: Commas with Nonessential Elements Exercise 2

In this answer key for Exercise #2, the following answers are included:

C= sentence correctly punctuated for essential and nonessential elements.

X= sentence incorrectly punctuated for essential and nonessential elements

__C__ 1. The one woman who did not attend the meeting said that she had to study for her chemistry exam. [who did not attend the meeting is an essential clause, defining the specific woman in question.]

__X__ 2. He did not however intend to return the money he borrowed. [however is a Non-Essential word.]

__X__ 3. West Point cadets, who break the honor code, are expelled. [who break the honor code is an essential clause, defining a subset of cadets.]

__X__ 4. She was as a matter of fact chiefly interested in becoming a Hollywood celebrity. [as a matter of fact is a Non-Essential phrase.]

__C__ 5. Raul's wife, Conchita, is president of the local Red Cross. [Conchita is a Non-Essential word since Raul's wife already defines the specific person in question.]

__X__ 6. The German writer, Hermann Hesse, is a favorite with American college students. [Hermann Hesse is an essential term, defining the specific German writer in question.]

__X__ 7. The courthouse which was renovated recently was built in 1878. [which was renovated recently is a Non-Essential clause since the courthouse already defines the specific building in question.]

__X__ 8. Saul having forgotten to save his work lost all of his revisions when his computer crashed. [having forgotten to save his work is a Non-Essential phrase, merely modifying the word Saul.]

__C__ 9. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, wrote his handbook of spiritual exercises in the sixteenth century. [founder of the Society of Jesus is a Non-Essential phrase, merely providing additional information about the subject.]

__X__ 10. The book, that your sister gave you for your birthday, won a National Book Award. [that your sister gave you for your birthday is an essential clause, defining the specific book in question.]