restrictive clause

Jasmin165 said:

I'm not sure whether "revealed a disc herniation" is a restrictive clause or not. I think the first sentence is correct, although I guess the second one could be too.

"The doctor treated me twice a week for two months but, because there was no improvement in my condition, I had an MRI done on my back in March that revealed a disc herniation."

"The doctor treated me twice a week for two months but, because there was no improvement in my condition, I had an MRI done on my back in March, which revealed a disc herniation."

Thanks.

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Raymott said:

Good question. I'd say you could use either. I prefer the first.

Consider:
1. "I had an MRI scan which revealed a disc herniation."
The 'which' clause refers to the scan.
2. "I had an MRI scan, which revealed a disc herniation."
The 'which' clause refers to the whole of the main clause.
It's easier to determine the type of 'which' clause when used after "the scan"
But after "a scan":
"I finally had a scan that revealed a disc herniation." Restrictive.
"I finally had a scan which revealed a disc herniation." Restrictive.
You might have had previous scans that didn't. 'Finally' refers to having a scan that showed the herniation.
"I finally had a scan, which revealed a disc herniation." Non-restrictive. You only had one scan. 'Finally' refers to having a scan.

I'd be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

By the way, note the suggestion about the commas. The 'because' clause is parenthetical. You might recall a thread about a month ago where some posters said they would use a comma both before and after 'but'.

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Jasmin165 said:

I'm not sure I understood your explanation.

"I had an MRI scan which showed a disc herniation."

"I had an MRI scan, which revealed a disc herniation."

I think you're saying that the first sentence implies that I've had more than one MRI scan done, whereas the second one doesn't. Is that right?

The first one is non-committal about whether you had previous scans. The second suggests you only had one. The difference is highlighted by the adverb "finally" which I added for that purpose - and which I concede was not in your original.

I take it from your remarks about the commas that my punctuation of the sentence "The doctor treated me twice a week for two months, but because there was no improvement in my condition I had an MRI done on my back in March that revealed a disc herniation." isn't incorrect; your punctuation is simply an alternative.
Yes, that's right. But I do think you need a comma after 'condition'.
"Because there was no improvement in my condition, I had an MRI done."

Also, I'm not sure what's the consequence of the fact that the "because" clause is parenthetical.
There's no consequence of note. It's correct as you've written it, as long as you put the comma after 'condition'. Moving your comma to the other side of but is possible, but not necessary. It was just something that occurred to me as I wrote my reply, and you can safely ignore that comment.
Some of the comments merely reflected my working out of the answer, and do not relate directly to your immediate concerns. But, hey, they were free.
Thanks a lot.

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Raymott said:

R.

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