“When I was in Paris (which is in France), I saw a great many pretty things.”
Read this sentence carefully and you will find something we have not had before: a group of words in parenthesis.
You notice, we should have very good sense without this group. Read it: “When I was in Paris I saw a great many pretty things.”
So you see, the words “which is in France” are not so important as the rest of the sentence. You might say they were thrown in after you had thought of the other idea.
Now, I want you to read the sentence aloud, leaving out the group, “which is in France.” After you have done this five or six times, then read the whole sentence, keeping in mind that the words in parenthesis are not very important, but just thrown in to let people know that you mean Paris in France, and not some other Paris.
The groups that are thrown in are not always put in parenthesis. But that does not make any difference in the reading. Here are a few examples. I want you to practice on them just as you did on the first example in this lesson.
1. “The king of England, who was a very brave man, won several victories over the French.”
2. “The largest school in our city, which is Chicago, has more than five hundred children in it.”
3. “During the Christmas vacation, which lasts ten days, I went to see my grandmother.”
4. “Frank did all his mother asked him to do; but William, because he was careless and disobedient, gave his mother and teacher a great deal of trouble.”