Which option best describes a nonrestrictive clause in a sentence?

• A. Nonrestrictive Dependent Clause
• B. Restrictive Clause
• C. Appositive
• D. Phrase Cluster

Answer: (A)

Nonrestrictive clauses add extra information about a noun and are set off by commas; they aren’t needed to identify which person or thing is being talked about, so they can be removed without changing the reference. The best description for this idea is a dependent clause that is nonessential to the sentence’s main meaning. For example, in The teacher, who won an award last year, spoke, the clause who won an award last year provides extra detail about the teacher and is separated by commas. If you take it out, The teacher spoke still refers to the same person. A restrictive clause, by contrast, is necessary to identify the noun and isn’t set off by commas. An appositive renames the noun with a noun phrase, not a clause. And a phrase cluster isn’t the right term for describing this grammatical structure.