English Grammar Drills

Post-Noun Modifiers 65
Since we typically use restrictive adjective clauses with nouns modified by indefinite articles,
it is tempting to leap to the generalization that we must use nonrestrictive adjective clauses with
nouns modified by definite articles. This is definitely not the case. Nouns modified by definite
articles can use either type of adjective clause, as in the following example:
Restrictive: The contracts that are approved by the Board are binding.
Nonrestrictive: The contracts, which are approved by the Board, are binding.
Needless to say, these two adjective clauses have substantially different meanings. The first sentence
with the restrictive clause means that only those contracts that are approved by the Board
are binding (contracts not approved by the Board are not binding). The second sentence with
the nonrestrictive clause means that all the contracts are binding. The fact that all contracts are
approved by the Board is only incidental information. Disputes about whether an adjective clause
is restrictive or nonrestrictive are the single most common source of lawsuits related to grammatical
issues in legal documents.
Exercise 4.11
Underline all the adjective clauses in the following sentences. Write restrictive or nonrestrictive
above each clause as appropriate, and then add commas if the clause is nonrestrictive.
Queen Latifah who is best known as a rap artist is now a successful actress.
nonrestrictive
Queen Latifah, who is best known as a rap artist, is now a successful actress.
1. Let’s meet at the restaurant where we had dinner last night.
2. Strangely enough, houses that are made of wood often survive earthquakes better than
houses made of concrete.
3. My roommate whom I knew in high school is from Yemen.
4. The forests that grow in the Pacific Northwest are mostly conifers.
5. The economics test that we just took was harder than I expected it to be.
6. I live in a small town that is on the Mississippi River.
7. My boss who commutes an hour each way likes to work from home when she can.
8. The computer that I use at work is not capable of running the program that I need.
9. Mr. Brown who works for our parent company will be visiting us next week.