0
Stenka25 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

The use of comma

In the underlined comma, I want to ask if

1, is it ok without comma,
2, what's the reason of putting comma in this context

Thanks in advance.

My wife, Janice, and I have seen a marked decrease in our daughter, Noreen’s, performance in your science class during the last two grade periods.
  

Top answer

The commas around both 'Janice' and 'Noreen's' set off appositives (of 'wife' and 'daughter' respectively), and that is the standard punctuation. With short and common appositives such as these, some editors omit the commas. Consequently, there are two accepted choices (the first needing a small correction): My wife, Janice, and I have seen a marked decrease in our daughter's, Noreen’s, performance.

— Mister Micawber

  • The commas around both 'Janice' and 'Noreen's' set off appositives (of 'wife' and 'daughter' respectively), and that is the standard punctuation.
  • With short and common appositives such as these, some editors omit the commas.
  • Consequently, there are two accepted choices (the first needing a small correction): My wife, Janice, and I have seen a marked decrease in our daughter's, Noreen’s, performance.
  • My wife Janice and I have seen a marked decrease in our daughter Noreen’s performance .
  • It is obvious, I think, that the 2nd sentence is the better (and more common) choice.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
The commas around both 'Janice' and 'Noreen's' set off appositives (of 'wife' and 'daughter' respectively), and that is the standard punctuation. With short and common appositives such as these, some editors omit the commas. Consequently, there are two accepted choices (the first needing a small correction):

My wife, Janice, and I have seen a marked decrease in our daughter's,
0
0
Thanks as always, Mister Micawber.
0

Related Questions