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When writing quick replies to emails (usually to say thank you, etc.) I've taken to using the following style:

"Thank you, Ben!

Regards, Øyvind"

That is, I insert a comma before the vocative. Is that correct? Should it be

"Thank you Ben!

Regards, Øyvind"

instead?

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    Punctuation is a matter of style, and style matters least in informal writing like "quick replies to emails." Most style manuals advise separating the vocative (i.e., a noun direct address) with a comma.
    – deadrat
    Commented Nov 13, 2015 at 8:06
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    Either is fine. The "rules" say that the name of the person you're addressing should be set off with a comma, but that comes across as overly formal in a brief email or text message, unless the comma is needed to disambiguate the sentence. (Consider the slightly longer sentences "Let's eat, Grandma" and "Let's eat Grandma".)
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Nov 19, 2015 at 19:36
  • Poor grandma. :-) I'll stick to my guns, then, and always set off with a comma. I thought it was right, but had one of those moments when I thought it just looked wrong.
    – Øyvind
    Commented Nov 20, 2015 at 9:21
  • I'd use "Hello Ben!" if we'd lost contact for 15 years, but "Hello, Ben(!)" for a more normal, less emotive greeting. I'd pronounce them differently, and usually leave the measured space the comma signals.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 23, 2021 at 17:13

2 Answers 2

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Technically, it is correct to separate the name of the person addressed from the rest of the utterance, e.g. 'Hi, Jim' or 'Nonsense, Alfreda!' However, this is a convention that many many people either do not know about, or ignore, especially in emails, online communication, etc. You're quite right to use it, so please go on doing so! I always do, at the risk of being pedantic.

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I completely agree with the use of a comma.

It is the effect of text messaging and social media I formal language that has made people follow a quick, ‘lazy’ form of writing.

Even language teachers are falling into this. Looking at languages text books, punctuation is used in such sentences. One has to look at dialogues, for example.

As mentioned above, meaning changes when there is no comma:

Hello Jane! sounds like saying Hello Hotel! Excellent Ali! means Ali is excellent, not that he has done something well.

I would use the following:

Dear Leila, Hello, Vlad! Thank you, Marco! Good evening, Yuko! How are you, Miranda? etc.

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    – Community Bot
    Commented Nov 23, 2021 at 15:53
  • Note that Good Morning America (often abbreviated to GMA) is standard and isn't pronounced with the gap a comma signifies. And GM,A doesn't look wonderful.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Nov 23, 2021 at 17:17

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