Dash before a relative clause?

Question

Hi teachers,Is the clause in blue a relative clause? If yes, why does it use a dash instead of a comma? What is the difference in using one or the other?It’s a bad idea to be a couch potato–– a person who watches a lot of TV and doesn’t exercise.Thanks in advance.

RandomGuy · Accepted Answer

Thinking SpainIs the clause in blue a relative clause?

It's an appositive containing a relative clause.

Thinking SpainIf yes, why does it use a dash instead of a comma?

I don't know. I didn't write it. Honestly, the dash in that sentence seems glaringly out of place to me. I'd use a comma.

Thinking SpainWhat is the difference in using one or the other?

In meaning, no difference. Some might consider the em dash to be an instrument for emphasis. I use it on the rare occasion that a comma just doesn't do the trick.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Aspara Gus,
Thank you for your help. So if I use a comma instead of the dash in that sentence, it would be correct, wouldn't it?
Why do I say that? Because I have a one page article about Health News for Body and Mind with different relative clauses containing 'who/which' and that is the only one that has a dash, the others are enclosed in commas.

Appositive clauses look a great deal like relative clauses, don't they? Do I really have to tell that to my students? Isn't enough to tell them that it is just a relative clause?

TS

RandomGuy · Answer

Thinking SpainSo if I use a comma instead of the dash in that sentence, it would be correct, wouldn't it?

Yes. Except when an em dash functions as a semicolon, there is no such case of an em dash being correct in a sentence while a comma used instead is not.

Thinking SpainAppositive clauses look a great deal like relative clauses, don't they?

Yes. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase; a relative clause has a subject (relative pronoun) and a verb.

Niro, a carpenter, lives in a small town by Mt. Fubi.
Niro, who is a carpenter, lives in a small town by Mt. Fubi.

It’s a bad idea to be a couch potato, a person who watches a lot of TV and doesn’t exercise.
It’s a bad idea to be a couch potato, who is a person who watches a lot of TV and doesn’t exercise.

I suppose you could regard an appositive as a reduced relative clause.

Thinking SpainDo I really have to tell that to my students? Isn't enough to tell them that it is just a relative clause?

It would be easier to tell them that who watches a lot of TV and doesn’t exercise is a relative clause.

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Aspara Gus,
Wow! Thank you for your reply. It's realy good. You have been very helpful.Thanks a lot for your examples too.

TS

Dash before a relative clause?

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