Basic English Syntax with Exercises

Suggested Answers for Check Questions

Regarding their interpretation, restrictive relative clauses pick and focus on one element out of a set of elements while non-restrictive relatives add extra information about the noun they modify. Structurally, restrictive relative clauses may contain a wh-pronoun or a complementizer or a non-overt element, while non-restrictives can and must contain a wh-pronoun. A further difference between the two types of relative clause is that non-restrictives must be inserted between commas or dashes (in speech there is a pause preceding them). Fourthly, non-restrictives appear to be more distant structurally from the noun they modify than restrictives as only restrictives can be part of one-pronominalisation together with the noun they modify. Both types can be coordinated with identical constituents, though, and both are analysed as adjuncts with the non-restrictive relative clause being attached further away from the noun head than the restrictive.