Essential and nonessential clauses

Some clauses can be ripped out of a sentence without changing the basic meaning of the sentence. A clause like this is known as a nonessential clause. Here’s an example of one:

You can rip this nonessential clause out of the sentence and it still gets the basic meaning across that the tree fell down during the storm:

The tree fell down during the storm.

What the nonessential clause does is tell you some extra information.

An essential clause is the opposite of a nonessential clause - it can’t be removed without changing the basic meaning or message of a sentence.

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