0

I found the following sentence in a preposition-quiz.

"Working parents often find it difficult to keep children who are at home entertained during the summer months.

I think it is a "Defining relative clause" that gives essential information with "who are at home". So there is no need for a comma. But i am unsure - can you confirm ?

Improve this question
1
  • Yes, it's an essential/restrictive relative clause, so no comma. It is essential to know which children.
    – KarlG
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 17:57

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

I don't know if original sentence needs a comma or not, but I would consider revising for readability.

"During the summer months, working parents often find it difficult to keep children entertained while they are home."

Improve this answer
3
  • Your answer does not refer to the question/issue of "defining relative clauses" and "puntuation".
    – FrankMK
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 19:05
  • 1
    Maybe not, but the sole purpose of punctuation is to provide clarity and readability in text. There is more to a clear and readable sentence than just punctuation.
    – tuk
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 19:12
  • In cases of "essential clauses", the Cambridge Dictionary does not seems to share that opinion with you.
    – FrankMK
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 20:03
-1

The adjectival phrase,"who are at home', should be set off by commas. This phrase defines the noun, "children", just as any adjective modifies any noun.

Improve this answer
3
  • Sorry, but you've got it backwards.
    – KarlG
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:35
  • dictionary.cambridge.org/de/grammatik/britisch-grammatik/…
    – FrankMK
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 18:47
  • Welcome to EL&U. One of the reasons we ask people to support their answers with comments is that quite frequently, when looking for such support, we learn that our original understanding was incorrect.
    – Rupert Morrish
    Commented Feb 19, 2018 at 19:44

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .