SAT Reading & Writing: Nonessential Clauses and Commas
43+ practice questions in Praczo
The concept, explained
- 1
A nonessential clause (or parenthetical phrase) adds extra information but isn't required for the sentence to make grammatical sense.
- 2
It MUST be set off by a matched pair of punctuation: two commas, two dashes, or two parentheses.
- 3
To test if a clause is nonessential, read the sentence without it. If the sentence still has its core subject and verb and makes sense, the commas are correct.
- 4
Avoid mixing punctuation (e.g., a comma and a dash).
- ✗ Putting a comma at the start of the clause but forgetting the closing comma.
- ✗ Setting off an essential clause (like "the boy who cried wolf") with commas, which disrupts the sentence's core meaning.
SAT-style practice
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