{"id":7435,"date":"2020-08-20T08:23:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T08:23:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=7435"},"modified":"2023-04-10T20:35:39","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T20:35:39","slug":"comma-before-where","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-where\/","title":{"rendered":"Comma before \u201cwhere\u201d: Rules and Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:56.25%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}<\/style><p>As we&rsquo;ve seen in earlier posts on this topic, commas can be very confusing.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the problem is that there is a lot of bad advice out there. Some people suggest adding a comma whenever you would pause while speaking.<\/p>\n<p>Although this sounds like a good idea, it can lead to sentences that are ungrammatical and which may <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-even\/\">even<\/a><\/strong> say the opposite of what you intend.<\/p>\n<p>One thing that can help is to remember that the main purpose of a comma is to clarify the meaning of a sentence.<\/p>\n<p>This means that in most cases you can ask yourself if adding or removing a comma will change what a sentence says to figure out whether you are likely to need one.<\/p>\n<p>In this post, we&rsquo;ll walk you through how to figure out whether or not you need a comma before &ldquo;where.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>When do you need a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo;?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is a relative pronoun, or a word that shows some kind of relationship between the main clause of a sentence and its subordinate, relative clause. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Although &ldquo;where&rdquo; can show up in a bewildering variety of places, there&rsquo;s a fairly simple rule you can use to check whether or not you need to put a comma first. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>First, cover the clause that follows &ldquo;where&rdquo; with your thumb or otherwise hide it. If the sentence no longer makes sense, you should not add a comma before &ldquo;where.&rdquo;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>If the sentence&rsquo;s meaning does not change when the relative clause beginning with &ldquo;where&rdquo; is gone, you do need a comma.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&ldquo;Where&rdquo; and relative clauses<\/h2>\n<p>Because &ldquo;where&rdquo; is a relative pronoun, the main rule which governs <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">comma usage<\/a><\/strong> is the rule for relative clauses.<\/p>\n<p>Clauses are best thought of as the parts a sentence can be broken down into.<\/p>\n<p>The core of each clause is a verb or action word, often accompanied by a subject or object.<\/p>\n<p>The word &ldquo;where&rdquo; is used at the start of a specific type of clause called a relative clause.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>When you need a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo;<\/h2>\n<p>The key to understanding commas here is to figure out whether the clause beginning with &ldquo;where&rdquo; contains information that is essential or nonessential to make sense of the whole sentence.<\/p>\n<p>In short, you only need to use a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo; if the information that follows it is not essential to proper understanding of the whole sentence.<\/p>\n<p>This typically means that the relative clause adds context or additional information that would not lead people astray if it were absent from the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Examples:<\/span><\/h4>\n<p>&ldquo;I went to the library, where I borrowed a book.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;My brother lived in Puerto Rico, where he researched cave spiders, for five years in the 1990s.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The information in both clauses beginning with &ldquo;where&rdquo; in the sentences above is not essential to understanding. Because they contain nonessential information, you need to set them off from the sentence with a comma before &ldquo;where.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Note that the relative clause does not have to appear at the end of a sentence. As the second example here shows, it can also come in the middle of the main clause. In this case, you need to be sure to add a comma at the end of the clause as well.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>When you don&rsquo;t need a comma with &ldquo;where&rdquo;<\/h2>\n<p>In contrast, if the information in the relative clause that follows &ldquo;where&rdquo; is absolutely essential to the sentence, you should not place a comma in front of it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;I went to the library where I borrowed a book.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;The astronaut landed on the moon of Saturn where she had parked her spaceship.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In these examples, the information that follows &ldquo;where&rdquo; is essential to understanding the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>Saturn, for instance, has <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/atleast-vs-at-least\/\" title=\"at least\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">at least<\/a> 82 moons. This means we need to know which moon the astronaut landed on.<\/p>\n<p>Likewise, there may be any number of libraries the speaker of the first sentence could visit, and the lack of comma clues readers into which specific library.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the lack of a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo; tells readers that what comes next will provide details they cannot skip.<\/p>\n<div class=\"grow-exclusive-content-widget-aa70192d-d134-4c49-86a3-d6f2effb13c9 grow-allow-content-ads\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1FcGWj9ZmJCqbVuKMOa6A7yA_r8YRdtsq\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16942 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg\" alt=\"Comma Rules Cheat Sheet\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg 854w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-480x270.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-720x405.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-320x180.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-735x413.jpeg 735w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-335x188.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-347x195.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-520x293.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-640x360.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-960x540.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-1080x608.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16942 size-full eager-load\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201280%20720'%3E%3Crect%20width='1280'%20height='720'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"Comma Rules Cheat Sheet\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive.jpeg 854w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-480x270.jpeg 480w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-720x405.jpeg 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-320x180.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-735x413.jpeg 735w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-335x188.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-347x195.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-520x293.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-640x360.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-960x540.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-Cheat-Sheet-to-Google-Drive-1080x608.jpeg 1080w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&ldquo;Where&rdquo; and restrictive clauses<\/h2>\n<p>You might notice that the example about libraries is used in both sections above with the only difference being the inclusion of a comma.<\/p>\n<p>If you&rsquo;re trying to figure out if you need a comma based only on the word you use, that can seem like a nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, this problem makes it clear that you need to understand the grammar behind the word you&rsquo;re using, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-rather\/\">rather<\/a><\/strong> than memorize arbitrary rule.<\/p>\n<p>In our library sentence, the real difference is in the meaning of the relative clause &ldquo;where I borrowed a book.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/clauses-vs-phrases\/\">Clauses<\/a><\/strong> can sometimes be what is known as a &ldquo;restrictive clause,&rdquo; meaning it serves to tell the difference between one thing and all the other things like it.<\/p>\n<p>If a clause is not restrictive, on the other hand, it is most often providing contextual information about something else in the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>As we have seen with our library sentence, adding a comma changes the meaning of the sentence considerably.<\/p>\n<p>Let&rsquo;s look a little more closely at the difference in meaning, and how the comma changes things.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;I went to the library where I borrowed a book.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This sentence is an example of a restrictive clause. In other words, &ldquo;where I borrowed the book&rdquo; identifies which specific library the speaker visited.<\/p>\n<p>There might be any number of other libraries that could be confused with the specific library to which the speaker is referring.<\/p>\n<p>Because removing the relative clause would change the meaning of the main clause (you can&rsquo;t tell which library without that information), you shouldn&rsquo;t add a comma.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;I went to the library, where I borrowed a book.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This sentence is not a restrictive clause. &ldquo;where I borrowed a book&rdquo; does not identify a specific library, but describes what the speaker did upon arriving at the library.<\/p>\n<p>Although we still might not know which library the speaker went to, it doesn&rsquo;t change the main point of the sentence, which is just that the speaker did go to the library.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, because removing the relative clause would not change the meaning of the main clause you do need to add a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo; in this sentence.<\/p>\n<p>If you still find yourself getting confused about commas and the word &ldquo;where,&rdquo; just remember the following basic rule: Don&rsquo;t add a comma before &ldquo;where&rdquo; <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-unless-rules-usage-examples\/\">unless<\/a><\/strong> what follows it is not essential information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we&rsquo;ve seen in earlier posts on this topic, commas can be very confusing. Part of the problem is that there is a lot of bad advice out there. Some people suggest adding a comma whenever you would pause while speaking. Although this sounds like a good idea, it can lead to sentences that are &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7444,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"Article","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1119,1116],"tags":[80],"class_list":["post-7435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-comma-rules","category-grammar","tag-comma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7435"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24702,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7435\/revisions\/24702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}