Which sentence contains a restrictive clause? A. They decided to meet where the band was performing. B. The children, sweaty and miserable, piled into the bus. C. They put the baby, who was fast asleep, in his crib. D. The girls, overwhelmed by the sale, bought many shoes. E. The child, who was now wailing, ran toward his mother.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is: A. They decided to meet where the band was performing.
Explanation:
A restrictive clause (also called a defining clause) provides essential information about the noun it modifies. It is crucial to the meaning of the sentence because it restricts or defines the noun more precisely. Without this clause, the sentence’s meaning would be incomplete or unclear.
- Restrictive clauses do not use commas because the information is essential.
- In contrast, a non-restrictive clause (or non-defining clause) provides extra information that can be left out without changing the main meaning of the sentence. These clauses are set off by commas.
Analysis of each option:
A. They decided to meet where the band was performing.
- The clause “where the band was performing” tells us the specific place they decided to meet. This clause restricts or defines the meeting place and is essential to the meaning.
- There are no commas here, which is typical of restrictive clauses.
B. The children, sweaty and miserable, piled into the bus.
- “Sweaty and miserable” is additional information about the children, not essential to identify which children.
- The commas indicate a non-restrictive phrase (an appositive or descriptive phrase), so this is not restrictive.
C. They put the baby, who was fast asleep, in his crib.
- The clause “who was fast asleep” adds extra information about the baby but is not essential to identify which baby.
- The commas mark this as a non-restrictive clause.
D. The girls, overwhelmed by the sale, bought many shoes.
- “Overwhelmed by the sale” is additional information about the girls, set off by commas.
- This is a non-restrictive phrase.
E. The child, who was now wailing, ran toward his mother.
- “Who was now wailing” is extra information, marked by commas, and is non-restrictive.
Summary
Only option A contains a restrictive clause because the clause “where the band was performing” is essential to the meaning and is not set off by commas. All the other options include non-restrictive clauses or phrases that provide additional, but non-essential, information, and they use commas to separate those clauses.