The Who Comma

Question

Jesse points to an Asian man, who is sitting alone with a chess table set to go. There should be a comma before "who" there, right?

Enoon · Accepted Answer

Probably. If someone had asked Jesse "Which person over there forms the best tableau with his surroundings?" you might leave the comma off.

Snarf · Answer

Do you think it makes a difference whether "who is" is there or not - that is, with it being "...Asian man, sitting alone..."?

Enoon · Answer

Not really.

Snarf · Answer

What about this one?:

The claim is ridiculous and nonsensical, and is usually thrown around by stubborn-minded people who enjoy throwing confusion on the matter.

Should there be a comma before that "who?"

BillJ · Answer

The rule is that a comma is required when a relative clause is non-restrictive (non-defining), but not required when it is restrictive (defining). If we apply that distinction to your two examples:

[1] Jesse points to an Asian man, who is sitting alone with a chess table set to go.

[2] The claim is ridiculous and nonsensical, and is usually thrown around by stubborn-minded people who enjoy throwing confusion on the matter.

In [1], Jesse points to a particular Asian man, not a group of Asian men, so the information in the relative clause about 'sitting alone with a chess table...', though useful, is not essential to enable us to pick him out from other Asian men in the vicinity, if indeed there are any others. The relative clause is thus non-restrictive; it provides additional but non-vital information, and should be set off with a comma.

In [2], the question is whether the claim is only thrown around by stubborn-minded people who enjoy throwing confusion on the matter, or by stubborn-minded people in general. If the former is true, the information in the relative clause is an indispensable part of the noun phrase, so the clause is restrictive and no comma is required; otherwise, the clause is non-restrictive, and a comma is required to set it off as loosely attached additional but non-vital information.

BillJ

The Who Comma

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