How do I know whether a clause needs commas?

Cover it and read the sentence. My cousin who lives in Ohio called means you have more than one cousin and this identifies which. My cousin, who lives in Ohio, called means you have one cousin and the clause is extra.

Why do these items only have commas in them?

Because the sheet asks the student to write the commas in, and a restrictive clause takes none. Restrictive clauses are taught in the rule box and named in the misconceptions, so the contrast is on the page without being an item.

What about that and which?

In American edited writing, which introduces a nonrestrictive clause and takes commas, while that introduces a restrictive one and takes none. Most style guides treat it as a firm convention rather than a law of grammar.

7th grade commas for extra detail

7th grade commas for extra detail worksheets

A nonrestrictive element adds information the sentence does not need to identify what it is talking about, so commas fence it off. At seventh grade the element often sits in the middle of the sentence and needs a comma on each side, and the appositives run longer than they did at sixth.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.7.2.a.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Add the two missing commas to each sentence, one on each side of the extra information.

The assembly however ran twenty minutes past the lunch bell.
Fixed: The assembly, however, ran twenty minutes past the lunch bell.
Darius our fastest forward took every corner kick last season.
Our ranger who checks the nesting boxes each fall counted nine this year.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 7th grade sheet

7th grade sheets draw from 42 sentences, 8 to a page. None of these sentences are on 6th grade sheets.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

Grace, the student council secretary, wrote the whole proposal.
Imani, who has never missed a practice, anchors the relay this spring.
The lower trail, washed out by the September storm, stayed closed a month.

Fix it. Add the two missing commas to each sentence, one on each side of the extra information. 8 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

The lift-it-out test still does all the work: cover the element and read what is left. If the sentence still points at the same person or thing, the element is extra and the commas go in. If the sentence suddenly means something broader, the element is doing identifying work and takes no commas at all. The new habit for seventh grade is remembering the second comma. An element in the middle of a sentence needs a fence on both sides, and a missing closing comma is the most common mark on upper-grade papers.

Watch for: The lift-out test asks about meaning, not just grammar. Take the phrase out: if you still know exactly who or what the sentence means, the phrase is extra and takes commas on BOTH sides. One comma is a door left open. If taking it out changes who is meant, it stays with no commas. Essential information takes no commas at all: in 'the student who won gets a medal,' dropping who won still leaves a sentence, but now it could mean any student. That clause says which one, so it stays open. This page drills the extra kind, where the commas belong.

Common questions about 7th grade commas for extra detail

How do I know whether a clause needs commas?: Cover it and read the sentence. My cousin who lives in Ohio called means you have more than one cousin and this identifies which. My cousin, who lives in Ohio, called means you have one cousin and the clause is extra.
Why do these items only have commas in them?: Because the sheet asks the student to write the commas in, and a restrictive clause takes none. Restrictive clauses are taught in the rule box and named in the misconceptions, so the contrast is on the page without being an item.
What about that and which?: In American edited writing, which introduces a nonrestrictive clause and takes commas, while that introduces a restrictive one and takes none. Most style guides treat it as a firm convention rather than a law of grammar.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Need a fresh set of sentences? Download another copy.

Aligned to Common Core L.7.2.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

Spot a mistake on this sheet? Tell us. · About these worksheets