 #2 (permalink) Sun May 21, 2006 8:50 am Comma |
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Hi Frank,
You asked:
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Can anyone help me with it?
What is the difference between the following?
Her stepmother who hated her was an absolute gorgon.
Her stepmother, who hated her, was an absolute gorgon. |
When you put a relative clause (who hated her) between commas, you are simply adding extra information. If there are no commas, you are defining/describing the noun (stepmother). The meaning in your sentence Her stepmother who hated ... suggests that she has more than one stepmother and without the comma we are describing this particular one BUT in the sentence Her stepmother, who hated her ... we are simply adding an extra piece of information about the stepmother and not defining her.
I have written some material on relative sentences, which you might like to read:
Relative Pronoun
Relative Pronoun (2)
Relative Pronoun (3)
Alan
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Alan
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