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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
‘Have I told you about my uncle, Chris?’ vs ‘Have I told you about my uncle—Chris?’
‘Have I told you about my uncle, Chris?’ vs ‘Have I told you about my uncle—Chris?’
Which of the foregoing sentences means my uncle’s name is Chris, and which one means I’m asking a person named Chris about my uncle?
Obviously, in speech, the distinction is made by intonation and/or rhythm. In writing, an em dash is regularly used instead of a comma to make a distinction in meaning, so I’m wondering which one means which when written with a comma versus and when written with an em dash.
Which of the foregoing sentences means my uncle’s name is Chris, and which one means I’m asking a person named Chris about my uncle?
Obviously, in speech, the distinction is made by intonation and/or rhythm. In writing, an em dash is regularly used instead of a comma to make a distinction in meaning, so I’m wondering which one means which when written with a comma versus and when written with an em dash.
Top answer
unless it ends in an exclamation mark or an interrobang.
- unless it ends in an exclamation mark or an interrobang.
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1 Answers
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When written, the comma sentence remains ambiguous; the m-dash makes it more likely that Chris is the uncle...unless it ends in an exclamation mark or an interrobang.
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