English B1 – Intermediate

🎙️ Click to View Video Transcript

Below is the transcript of your next video segment. Watch your avatar explain how to add extra background details smoothly using commas:

“Welcome to Part 2! Now that you know how to define a specific item, let’s look at how we add extra, bonus details to a sentence that your listener already understands. In this section, you’ll learn the power of the comma pause, why the pronoun that is completely banned here, and why you can never drop your relative pronouns, no matter what.”

💡 Listening Comprehension Check: Did you notice the vocal pauses? In speech, commas turn into tiny drop-pauses in your voice. Listen for them in the audio files below!

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Grammar Boost: Non-Defining Relative Clauses Adding Extra Background Context

Advanced Sentence Flow & Commentating Structures

Your Skill Targets for Today

The Comma Rule: Master using punctuation to isolate non-essential details.
The “No-That” Constraint: Understand why that is grammatically illegal in these clauses.
Strict Retention: Learn why relative pronouns can never be omitted or dropped in this structure.

1. The Structural Mechanics of Extra Information

A non-defining relative clause provides extra, non-essential details about a noun that is already specific or unique. If you pull the clause out of the sentence, the core statement remains perfectly logical and complete.

🚫 The Two Unbreakable Rules of Non-Defining Clauses:

1. You CANNOT use the word “that”. You must use who for people and which for things.

2. You CANNOT drop the relative pronoun. It must always be spoken or written, even if it acts as an object!

Focus Noun	Correct Formula (With Commas)	Common Trap to Avoid
Things / Systems	Noun, which + details , verb… “Our CRM platform, which we bought last year, needs an upgrade.”	❌ Do not use “that”: “Our CRM platform, that we bought…”
People / Roles	Name/Person, who + details , verb… “The CEO, who is visiting today, will give a speech.”	❌ Do not drop “who”: “The CEO, is visiting today…”
Physical Places	Location, where + details , verb… “The tech lab, where our new prototypes are tested, is highly secure.”	❌ Missing Commas: “The tech lab where our…”

Focus Noun

Correct Formula (With Commas)

Common Trap to Avoid

Things / Systems

Noun, which + details , verb…

“Our CRM platform, which we bought last year, needs an upgrade.”

❌ Do not use “that”:

“Our CRM platform, that we bought…”

People / Roles

Name/Person, who + details , verb…

“The CEO, who is visiting today, will give a speech.”

❌ Do not drop “who”:

“The CEO, is visiting today…”

Physical Places

Location, where + details , verb…

“The tech lab, where our new prototypes are tested, is highly secure.”

❌ Missing Commas:

“The tech lab where our…”

2. Active Reading: Executive Copy-Editing

Your Task: Read the executive memo draft below. Spot the two structural violations and identify the one perfectly correct sentence based on what you have just learned, then verify your audit below.

📝 Corporate Briefing Draft

“Our primary local server, ^(A)that is housed in Room 202, is experiencing high traffic. To fix this, we contacted Julian ^(B)who is our external cloud consultant to deploy a hotfix. He recommends migrating data back to the London data center, ^(C)where our core financial backup operates smoothly.”

🔍 Click to Verify Your Copy-Editing Audit

• Error A (that is housed…): Violation! “That” is forbidden inside commas. It must be replaced with “which”.

• Error B (who is our…): Violation! This is non-essential background info about Julian, so it is missing its framing punctuation. It must have commas before and after: “, who is our external cloud consultant, “.

• Sentence C (…where our core…): PERFECTLY CORRECT. The comma sets up the location description smoothly, using “where” appropriately.

3. Interactive Dialogue: Adding On-The-Spot Context

Notice how professional colleagues utilize non-defining structures to sprinkle useful contextual facts into their conversation without breaking their natural speech patterns:

Project Manager: “Has anyone seen the new security policies document?”
Team Lead: “Yes, the document, which Sarah published on Slack this morning, is on the corporate intranet page.”

Onboarding Coordinator: “Make sure you connect with our system architect tomorrow.”
New Employee: “Do you mean David, who managed our remote server migration, or someone else?”

🎙️ Speaking Challenge: Executing the Comma Drop-Pause

In spoken English, commas aren’t silent grammar symbols—they indicate a micro-pause in your delivery. Your tone should drop slightly during the clause, then rise back up when the clause ends. Let’s practice this performance skill.

Step 1: Click the audio play button below. Listen closely to how the speaker drops their pitch slightly and takes micro-pauses at each comma bracket.

▶️ [Click Play to Listen to the Comma Drop-Pause Audio Track]

Step 2: Read the corporate announcement statement aloud alongside the audio track, emphasizing the mini-pauses at each slash mark /:

“Our new cybersecurity framework / which the infrastructure team developed over six months / is finally fully operational. This system protects our innovation lab / where our confidential prototypes are tested / from any outside vulnerabilities.”

Step 3: Record your spoken delivery. Listen back and run a self-check: Did you rush through the sentences like one long phrase, or did you clearly execute the strategic comma pauses to highlight the background context?