The professor Dr. Smith an expert in neuroscience delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

Parenthetical Expressions and nonrestrictive Clauses are elements in a sentence that are unessential to the sentence’s core meaning.

The phrase "Dr. Smith", a parenthetical expression and "an expert in neuroscience", a nonrestrictive clause should be set off by commas.

The professor Dr. Smith an expert in neuroscience delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

The sentence is incorrect because it lacks punctuation to set off the parenthetical expression "Dr. Smith" and the nonrestrictive clause "an expert in neuroscience." Without the commas, the sentence may be interpreted as if "Dr. Smith" is part of the professor’s name, and "an expert in neuroscience" becomes an essential characteristic of the professor, which alters the intended meaning.

No change

The professor, Dr. Smith an expert in neuroscience delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

The sentence is incorrect because it sets off only the parenthetical expression "Dr. Smith" with a comma, but it fails to properly set off the nonrestrictive clause "an expert in neuroscience." As a result, the sentence lacks clarity and may be misinterpreted, suggesting that "Dr. Smith" is merely the professor’s name without further explanation about expertise.

professor, Dr. Smith an expert

The professor, Dr. Smith, an expert in neuroscience, delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

This sentence is correct. In this sentence, "Dr. Smith" is a parenthetical expression providing additional information about "the professor." The expression is set off by commas, indicating that it’s not essential to the sentence’s meaning. Additionally, "an expert in neuroscience" is a nonrestrictive clause providing further details about "Dr. Smith." This clause is also set off by commas to show that it’s not essential information.

professor, Dr. Smith, an expert in neuroscience,

The professor Dr. Smith, an expert in neuroscience delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

The sentence is incorrect because it lacks commas to set off both the parenthetical expression "Dr. Smith" and the nonrestrictive clause "an expert in neuroscience." Without proper punctuation, the sentence lacks clarity and may be misinterpreted, potentially implying that "Dr. Smith" is simply part of the professor’s name rather than additional information about the professor’s expertise.

professor Dr. Smith, an expert in neuroscience

Correct sentence

The professor, Dr. Smith, an expert in neuroscience, delivered a captivating lecture on brain plasticity.

Option

C

Can you summarize what you’ve understood in the above steps?