Monday, 27 October 2008

The Monday tip

You already know how much I hate hanging participles, but there is something I abhor even more: the absence of a comma before or after a vocative. The ‘before’ comma is essential. If you don’t put a comma in, you get something like this:
Fanny: ‘Hey, I heard Madonna was in the area today.’
Marius: ‘Oh, did you see her Fanny?’

3 comments:

  1. Me too! Of course, I tend to err on the side of more commas.

    I tagged you on my blog - nothing especially long, and book-related! Unfortunately, my book quote is (IMO) lacking a crucial comma. But I didn't write it, I just transcribed it.

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  2. I do too (the French use masses more commas than the Brits), but, in this case, I don't think it's a question of personal opinion, is it?

    Thank you, T. I will do it anon. (I agree about the missing comma, btw.)

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  3. LOL. Yes, I agree. Missing commas are very annoying.

    (But lots of people have seen Madonna's fanny.)

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