Restrictive/non-restrictive

Question

1-Some men who were wearing dark suits started shouting.
2-Some men, who were wearing dark suits, started shouting.
Is there any difference between the meanings of 1 and 2?

Some women came to the party. Some men who were wearing dark suits came to the party as well.
Some women came to the party. Some men, who were wearing dark suits, came to the party as well.
Is there any difference between the meanings of 3 and 4?

Gratefully,
Navi.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

In both examples the use of the commas (making the clause non-restrictive) is a way of recognizing that all members of the class referred to (some men) have the same quality (They were wearing dark suits) and did the same thing (started shouting; came to the party as well).

In contrast, the restrictive clauses acknowledge that there are other men not included among those who were wearing dark suits, but that only some of those included among those who were wearing dark suits participated in the action of the sentence (started shouting; came to the party as well).

CJ

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much CalifJim,

A-Some children who were wearing masks came into my apartment last night.
B-Some children, who were wearing masks, came into my apartment last night.

If I have understood correctly, if all the children had masks, 'B' should be used. If they were also mask-less children who came into my apartment, then 'A' should be used. But in this context, there might have been no masked children who did not come into my apartment. (I do not know what was going on outside.... If it was Halloween, then one would assume that there were other masked children, who had not come into my apartment... But if it was not Halloween and some kids were playing a joke on me or something, then there might not have been any other masked children).

Am I correct?

Gratefully,
Navi.

CalifJim · Answer

navitasanIf I have understood correctly, if all the children had masks, 'B' should be used.

If all the children in the group you're calling "some children" had masks, then yes. Use B. It's like saying

Some children came into my apartment last night, and all of them (who came in) were wearing masks.

navitasanIf there were also mask-less children who came into my apartment, then 'A' should be used.

Yes, that's reasonable.

Some children who were wearing masks came into my apartment last night. (And some children who were not wearing masks came into my apartment last night.)

navitasanBut in this context, there might have been no masked children who did not come into my apartment.

I don't know how to interpret this. What disturbs you about this possibility? You can only form sentences about what you know, not about facts that are unknown to you. Note the underlined phrases in my first comment above.

CJ

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much CalifJim for all your kind replies.

I think I have got it. Nothing really bothered me about that possibility. I just wanted to make sure that I had got it right.

Gratefully,
Navi.

CalifJim · Answer

By the way, it may be easier to remember that a non-restrictive clause just makes a parenthetical remark, whereas a restrictive clause limits what it modifies, specifying more exactly (or "singling out") what you're referring to. Thus, to go back to one of your original sentences.

Some men started shouting. (By the way, they were wearing dark suits.)
Some men (those dressed in dark suits) started shouting.

In your examples the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive is much harder to see than in certain other examples. In fact, it's not very often that you find an example where a relative clause can be written in both ways, each with a distinctly different meaning from the other.

1 We just spent an hour playing a game which was a lot of fun.
2 We just spent an hour playing a game, which was a lot of fun.

In 1 the game was a lot of fun; in 2 spending an hour playing a game was a lot of fun.
________

1 Mothers, who take good care of their children, were selected for the study.
2 Mothers who take good care of their children were selected for the study.

In 1 mothers (not, for example, fathers) were selected. The sentence also says that, by the way, mothers take good care of their children.
In 2 mothers who take good care of their children (not, for example, mothers who neglect their children) were selected.

CJ

Restrictive/non-restrictive

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