New York Times' comma usage

Question

A recent New York Times opinion piece has this sentence:

"Republicans claim that America is threatened by a decadent cultural elite that corrupts regular Americans, who love God, country and traditional values."

Assuming the sentence is punctuated properly, why must there be a comma after Americans?

Would the meaning of the sentence change if there was no comma after Americans?

Thank you for any help.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Let me try to answer by offering you simpler examples to consider.
I have a friend, who likes chocolate. This implies I only have one friend. By the way, my friend likes chocolate.
I have a friend who likes chocolate. This implies I have several friends. One of them likes chocolate. The others don't.

It's the same in your sentences.

The comma version focuses on all Americans. and says 'by the way, they love ***, etc'.

The version without a comma suggests the writer is talking about regular Americans who love ***, etc., but is not talking about regular Americans who don't love ***, etc.

The grammar topic here is often termed 'restrictive and non-restrictive clauses'.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

That's a great answer! Really helpful. Thank you.

New York Times' comma usage

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