Should there be a comma anywhere in the following sentence?
Thank you Annie for making us proud.
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1It's arguable whether the vocative ('Annie') is a parenthesis - some might even quibble with the use of the label 'vocative' here. Whatever it is, the sentence is clear enough without commas (and brackets or dashes would only be used in unusual circumstances, say to suddenly focus attention on Annie in a group, or to communicate a pregnant pause) - though adding commas signifies minor pauses in the spoken statement.– Edwin AshworthMar 26, 2013 at 16:17
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Why so many downvotes on this one?– TortoiseJul 14, 2013 at 0:43
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2 Answers
Commas and the Vocative Case
When addressing someone directly, writers should separate the name being used (e.g., John, Mary, my darling, you little rascal, my son) from rest of the sentence using a comma or commas
answered Mar 26, 2013 at 16:19
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I am afraid, Radu Miron, that you have not quite shown how you think it should be written.– tchrist ♦Mar 26, 2013 at 19:59
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@tchrist Haha. That's true. But I couldn't have put it better myself. And a single LINK HERE would have seemed just lazy. Mar 26, 2013 at 20:03
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1@tchrist I thought writer should separate the name being used from rest of the sentence means that it should be separated with one comma if it's the first/last word in the sentence and two commas if it's anywhere else. I don't think it's a choice to make. Mar 26, 2013 at 20:15
Yes, since it reads best with a pause after Annie - Thank you Annie, for making us proud.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/ - item 7.
It could also be considered a rhetorical device, along the lines of the sentential adverb - http://www.virtualsalt.com/rhetoric.htm
