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Rose
Professional TeacherđŹ WHO and COMMAS in Relative Clauses
Perhaps youâve come across the following sentences:
âMy sister, who is a nurse, lives in Chicago.â
âMy sister who is a nurse lives in Chicago.â
They look the same, so which one is correct? đ€
Both â
They are both correct, but they send a different message.
EXPLANATION
1ïžâŁ My sister, who is a nurse, lives in Chicago.
- The speaker has one sister.
- The information âwho is a nurseâ is extra information.
- We already know who the speaker is talking about, so the clause is not necessary.
đĄ Thatâs why we use commas.
2ïžâŁ My sister who is a nurse lives in Chicago.
- The speaker has more than one sister.
- The information âwho is a nurseâ is essential to identify which sister they mean.
đĄ We cannot remove it, so there are no commas.
Rule to remember:
If the information is extra -> use commas.
If the information is necessary -> no commas
#relative clauses
Jan 22, 2026 4:55 AM
Rose
Language Skills
Czech, English, Russian, Turkish
Learning Language
Turkish
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