nonrestrictive
(adjective)
Describes a modifier that can be dropped from a sentence without changing the meaning.
Examples of nonrestrictive in the following topics:
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Introduction to Commas
- Some modifiers are nonrestrictive, meaning that the sentence would still have essentially the same meaning, topic, and structure without them.
- In this sentence, "new" and "weird" are nonrestrictive.
- Because the name Alice Smith is just adding information, and the sentence would still have the same basic meaning without it, this is an example of a nonrestrictive appositive.
- Nonrestrictive appositives do require commas.