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Help the Area 51 security guard write his incident report! He needs to convey two very specific facts:
- Only a specific group of aliens was captured (the ones doing a silly dance—the others got away!).
- All the scientists were terrified (and as an extra, non-essential detail, they were all hiding).
Select the correct option for each blank to make the meaning crystal clear.
The aliens _________________________________________ were captured by the security team. Meanwhile, the scientists _______________________________________________ watched in absolute terror.
The aliens who were dancing the Macarena were captured by the security team. Meanwhile, the scientists**, who were hiding under their desks,** watched in absolute terror.
Why no commas for the aliens?
When you need to specify which people or things you are talking about out of a larger group, you use a restrictive relative clause (no commas). The guard only caught the dancing aliens, not all of them!
Why commas for the scientists?
When you are just adding extra, bonus information about a group that is already fully identified (all the scientists), you use a non-restrictive relative clause (with commas). If you remove the phrase between the commas, the main sentence "the scientists watched in absolute terror" still makes perfect sense.