Part 11 explores verb phrases, the second of the two fundamental building blocks of English grammar. Verb phrases contain three components: the verb, the complement, and the optional adverbs. | 62 Noun Phrases between essential defining information restrictive and nonessential supplementary information nonrestrictive . Here are examples of restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses. Carefully compare how the adjective clause relates to the noun it modifies. The adjective clauses are underlined and the relative pronouns are in italics Restrictive The house that is on the corner of Elm and 17th Street is for sale. Nonrestrictive Our house which is on the corner of Elm and 17th Street is for sale. If we delete the restrictive adjective clause from the first sentence we get a new sentence The house is for sale. In this new sentence we have no way of knowing which house is for sale. In that sense the revised sentence no longer means the same thing at all as the original sentence. However when we delete the nonrestrictive adjective from the second example the basic meaning of the original sentence remains unchanged Our house is for sale. Obviously when we delete the nonrestrictive adjective clause we lose the information that the clause contained namely the exact location of our house. Nevertheless the basic meaning of the main sentence is unchanged we are selling our house. Our house is still our house no matter where it is located and we are still selling it. Here are some more examples of pairs of restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses Restrictive Nonrestrictive The doctor who operated on my knee is an orthopedic specialist. Dr. Johnson who operated on my knee is an orthopedic specialist. Restrictive Nonrestrictive The plumber whom we had before has moved away. Artie Brown whom we had hired before has moved away. Restrictive Nonrestrictive The key that unlocks the supply cabinet is in my desk. The key to the supply cabinet which I gave you yesterday should have been returned to me when you were finished. From these three pairs of examples we can see two important characteristics of restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses Post-Noun .
