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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Happy birthday, David
I've noticed that people write "Happy Birthday, David" when wishing David a happy birthday on his Facebook wall. I write "Happy Birthday David" to wish him one.
I asked a comma-loving friend, and she used the "let's eat, grandma"/"let's eat grandma" example as her rationale. I don't think that applies here - the comma in that line keeps grandma from being the object of the verb "eat."
Since there is no verb in these greetings, I think there is no comma when writing "happy birthday David" or "Thank you David." After all, "happy birthday, David" and "thank you, David" are ways that DAVID would sign something - just like "sincerely, David" at the end of a letter.
Who is right?
I asked a comma-loving friend, and she used the "let's eat, grandma"/"let's eat grandma" example as her rationale. I don't think that applies here - the comma in that line keeps grandma from being the object of the verb "eat."
Since there is no verb in these greetings, I think there is no comma when writing "happy birthday David" or "Thank you David." After all, "happy birthday, David" and "thank you, David" are ways that DAVID would sign something - just like "sincerely, David" at the end of a letter.
Who is right?
Top answer
Use the comma. The humorous potentially misleading sense of eating grandma is just conincidental to the need for the comma before the name of the person you are addressing.
- Use the comma.
- The humorous potentially misleading sense of eating grandma is just conincidental to the need for the comma before the name of the person you are addressing.
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4 Answers
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Use the comma. The humorous potentially misleading sense of eating grandma is just conincidental to the need for the comma before the name of the person you are addressing.
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how come a letter starts "Dear David," not "Dear, David" if the practice is to place a comma before the name of the person you are addressing?
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AnonymousSince there is no verb in these greetings, I think there is no comma when writing "happy birthday David" or "Thank you David." After all, "happy birthday, David" and "thank you, David" are ways that DAVID would sign something - just like "sincerely, David" at the end of a letter.Who is right?I think you are right.
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