Will You Commit Lynn? On Commas in Direct Address
My husband Michael gets copies of my email. We are in business together, and he keeps track of what comes in when I am busy teaching business writing courses.
Last week Michael received a political email, a persuasive request with the subject line “Will You Commit, ?”
He relaxed when he noticed the comma before my name. Without it, the message might have been distressing: Will You Commit ? One serious interpretation of that question would be “Will you put in an institution for people with mental illness?” A less grave meaning would be “Will you assign to this project?”
But the comma told Michael he was reading a message addressed to me–not about me. The comma indicated “direct address.”
Omitting commas in direct address is the most common punctuation error I see. These sentences from recent emails suffer from it:
Thank you .Many thanks .Wonderful tips .Thanks Ms. Gaertner-Johnston.Thanks for the info .
Because the writers are addressing me, a comma should come before my name.
Will you commit, dear reader, to using a comma when you address your readers directly?
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