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Attributive clause

Chinese-China
Hi teachers. There are two sentences below which I would like to talk about:
I have a sister who is a doctor.
I have a sister, who is a doctor.
Many Chinese English teachers say: the first means you have more than one sister, the second means you only have one sister.
I think about it carefully and I find that in the first sentence, if I have only one sister I can also say in this way.
So if someone says in the first way，can I conclude that he/she must have more than one sister?
Thanks for your help.
Your thought is right. It doesn't say you have more than one sister. It can be said whether you have one or more. In fact it's the usual way of saying this.

In speech the intonation would be different if you did have two sisters, and were going to go on to say 'And my other sister . . .' But when the sentence is used by itself, there need not be a special intonation.
... if someone says in the first way，can I conclude that he/she have more than one sister?
...
No.
  1. In spoken English you won't hear whether there is a comma or not.
  2. Not all people follow the grammar "rule" about commas in relative clauses.
  3. Having one sister doesn't mean you must have two, anyway.
“I have a sister” means exactly that and no more. It provides no information whatsoever as to whether the speaker has any other sisters, or any brothers. And “who is a doctor” tells us what that sister does for a living. When written, the latter can be presented either as a restrictive clause or as a non-restrictive one preceded by a comma. But the likelihood of the sentence ever being presented in isolation (as it is here) is negligible. In speech, further clues would be given by means of stress on a particular word. For example:

I have sister who’s a . I could ask her what you can take for that.​
I have a who’s a doctor. None of my brothers are doctors.​
I have a sister who’s a doctor and a brother who’s a nurse.​
I have a sister, who’s a doctor. She’s my only sibling.​
Thanks very much！
And if there is a huge pause between “sister” and “who” when we talk(not written English), can I think that in this way he/she has only one sister?( also in written English, if there is a comma between sister and who)
No.
  1. In spoken English you won't hear whether there is a comma or not.
  2. Not all people follow the grammar "rule" about commas in relative clauses.
  3. Having one sister doesn't mean you must have two, anyway.
Now in China, many English tests require students having many many grammar, and sometimes I just consider “why there are so many rules”😄
And if there is a huge pause between “sister” and “who” when we talk(not written English), can I think that in this way he/she has only one sister?( also in written English, if there is a comma between sister and who)
No. Why would you assume that if you know nothing else about the person?
Your thought is right. It doesn't say you have more than one sister. It can be said whether you have one or more. In fact it's the usual way of saying this.

In speech the intonation would be different if you did have two sisters, and were going to go on to say 'And my other sister . . .' But when the sentence is used by itself, there need not be a special intonation.
Very very thanks!
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