[Grammar] Every student who/that

[Andromeda]

Dear teachers,

Please take a look at the following two sentences:

1. Every student that took my syntax course enjoyed it.

2. Every student, who took my syntax course, enjoyed it.

May I know why the second sentence is not grammatical?

Thank you

 

[tedmc]

There is no need for commas.

 

[teechar]

There is no need for commas.

That doesn't answer the question. In fact, the commas should not be used there. See below.

2. Every student, who took my syntax course, enjoyed it.
May I know why the second sentence is not grammatical?

It's a question of punctuation rather than grammar.
We do not use commas to set off restrictive clauses.

Consider this example:
a- The students who were wearing shorts were asked to leave.
b- The students, who were wearing shorts, were asked to leave.
In "a", we have a restrictive relative clause, so we do not use commas. Not all the students were wearing shorts. Only those who were wearing shorts were asked to leave.
In "b", we have a non-restrictive relative clause, so we use commas. All the students were wearing shorts, and all of them were asked to leave.

 

[Andromeda]

That doesn't answer the question. In fact, the commas should not be used there. See below.


It's a question of punctuation rather than grammar.
We do not use commas to set off restrictive clauses.

Consider this example:
a- The students who were wearing shorts were asked to leave.
b- The students, who were wearing shorts, were asked to leave.
In "a", we have a restrictive relative clause, so we do not use commas. Not all the students were wearing shorts. Only those who were wearing shorts were asked to leave.
In "b", we have a non-restrictive relative clause, so we use commas. All the students were wearing shorts, and all of them were asked to leave.

Thank you very much. If we decide to keep the clause in the second sentence as non-restrictive, and set it off with commas, can it be interpreted as

"Every student (in the university or world) has taken my syntax course, and every one of them enjoyed it"?

 

[Andromeda]

No.

One point about a non-restrictive clause is that it is not essential to the sentence. It simply tells us something more about something in the sentence, and can be removed. If you remove the non-restrictive clause from your sentence, you are left with "Every student enjoyed it". What is 'it'?

A nice explanation. I understand it now.

Thank you very much.