Usage of Comma

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earleymom
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:45 pm

Usage of Comma

Post by earleymom »

Hi All

Which is correct? "Me and my brother John went to school" or "Me and my brother, John, went to school" ?

My DS says a comma is needed, I'm not sure. Any suggestions?
ToadMum
Posts: 11947
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:41 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by ToadMum »

"My brother John and I went to school" if you have more than one brother, or "My brother, John, and I went to school" if you only have the one brother and you wish the listener / reader to know that his name is John....
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
earleymom
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 2:45 pm

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by earleymom »

Thanks Toadmum..
Amber
Posts: 8058
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 11:59 am

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by Amber »

As an aside, if you're not sure whether to use 'I' or 'me' then just imagine the sentence without the other person in it. You wouldn't say 'me went to school' but 'I went to school'.

One of my particular bugbears is 'give it to John or I'. Almost as bad as 'contact John or myself'. You wouldn't say 'contact myself' unless you were very pretentious.

Sorry, OT - a little bit.
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by yoyo123 »

my pet hate too , Amber ( well , one of them!)
anxiousparent11plus
Posts: 18
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:58 am

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by anxiousparent11plus »

Is there any good website for Punctuations?
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Usage of Comma

Post by doodles »

We were always taught that you should be able to take the bit in commas out of the sentence and it will still make sense. Mind you that's does presume the sentence makes sense in the first place :lol: :lol:
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