Q. I work for a company that says they’re focused on building client relationships. However, they insist when we address an email to one of our own clients whom we know well that we put a comma in hi, hello, or good morning, Joe. I have been told that this is a very formal way of addressing someone. Help!
A. The comma in a greeting of direct address is not very formal; it’s been the standard form for a very long time in all kinds of correspondence. Omitting the comma, on the other hand, is casual, and you never know which readers (especially anyone over forty) might consider it an error. Of course everyone understands that email is not a formal means of communication, but depending on the kind of business you are in, you might want your email to reflect a certain level of professionalism. If so, the comma is a good idea.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I have a question about using a comma with the word and. I am an editorial intern for an art journal, and the most recent piece I am editing has a sentence written thus: “Henry Darger is both illuminating and, at times, frustrating.” The question we have been debating in the office for a significant amount of time today is whether or not there should be a comma inserted after the word illuminating to offset the and.
A. Since you would not put a comma after illuminating if you omitted the parenthetical “at times” (Henry Darger is both illuminating and frustrating), there’s no reason to add one just because the parenthetical is there. Please see CMOS 6.26 for a related comma issue (which I can imagine your office also debating for a significant amount of time).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Do I need to put a comma here: fresh, local produce?
A. The comma is optional, depending on what you mean. Fresh local produce = local produce that is fresh. Fresh, local produce = produce that is fresh and local. In this case, there is almost no difference in meaning, but sometimes a comma is significant: for instance, a heavy wet blanket is not necessarily a heavy, wet blanket.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In the sentence “Researchers at the University of California, Riverside and the University of Southern California determined . . . ,” should there be a comma after “San Diego”?
A. (Is this a trick question?) There should be a comma after Riverside.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. In response to a question about the use of serial commas, you responded in favor of the extraneous comma with the example
“With gratitude to my parents, Mother Teresa and the pope”—which
you claimed created confusion. But doesn’t the same confusion arise in some cases if the serial comma
is added: “With gratitude to my mom, Mother Teresa, and the pope”? Why wouldn’t
you recommend rewriting the sentence in either case to avoid the ambiguity: “With gratitude to Mother
Teresa, the pope and my parents”?
A. Excellent point! Although CMOS recommends the serial comma as default punctuation, writers and editors still have to think before deploying it. (Of course,
we would rewrite it “With gratitude to Mother Teresa, the pope, and my parents.”)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Dear CMOS, Perhaps you can help resolve a raging debate I have been having with my coauthor. This debate, which is perilously close to becoming a very ugly brawl, concerns the all too underused phrase “nobody, but nobody.” I say that “but nobody” is a parenthetic expression and should be set off in commas, as in “Nobody, but nobody, should trifle with the Etiquette Grrls.” She insists vehemently that the commas absolutely, positively, MUST go, no arguments about it, and I have been unable to persuade her to change her mind. I think it looks simply dreadful without the commas, and besides, the meaning is then altered to “nobody EXCEPT FOR nobody,” isn’t it? (Rather than simply emphasizing the first “nobody.”) Who is correct? Thank you ever so much. Also, may I say that I simply adore your Q&A page? (I’m a Grammar Geek, I guess . . . what can one say?) I had no idea that such things as style could be so witty! Thanks again! Yours sincerely, Honore Ervin, The Etiquette Grrls Are Crusading for Polite Behavior in a Tacky, Rude World.
A. Dear Ms. Ervin: I’m glad you wrote in time for me to prevent the Etiquette Grrls from engaging in a very ugly brawl. The fact is, both constructions are just fine. If you want to imply a pause for emphasis, use the commas. If you want to say that nobody except for nobody does something (a weirdly reasonable thing to say), omit the commas.
Now shake hands and stop fussing.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello. In the sentence “I went to the store to buy eggs, milk and cheese” do
you put a comma after “milk”? What is the standard now for comma usage after the
second-to-last item? I have seen such sentences both with and without the comma. Thanks.
A. Chicago style is to put a comma there (it’s called a “serial”
comma). There are times when that comma is necessary to avoid awkwardness or ambiguity: “My favorite
combinations are green and yellow, blue and purple and black and red.” Since it is sometimes needed,
and is never wrong, the simplest way to impose consistency without having to stop and think about each instance is to form
a habit of adding the serial comma.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My question relates to the proper use of the comma when using a subordinate clause introduced by the pronoun “which”
or “who.” My impression is that a comma to set off the clause is proper sometimes
but not always. For example, if I say, “I have a car which has four doors,” a
comma introducing the clause is not appropriate. However, if I say, “My car, which has four doors, is
blue,” the comma is proper. I am not quite sure how to articulate the rule for when the comma is proper
and when not. Can you help me?
A. Your instincts are right about the comma for nonrestrictive clauses—that is, clauses that are not necessary
to the meaning of the sentence but are parenthetical. A good test is to put parentheses around the clause in question and
see if any meaning is lost: if there is any change in the gist of the sentence, then you should not use the commas. When the
clause is restrictive (that is, restricting or modifying the meaning of the subject, rather than simply adding to it), it
is properly followed not by “which” but by “that”:
I have a car that has four doors. Although this rule has now been relaxed almost out of existence, if you can get used to
using “which” and “that” correctly,
then you can follow the somewhat oversimplified guideline that “which” takes a
comma.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. When a city and a state are mentioned in a sentence, am I correct in placing commas after the state name as well as before
the state name? “Mary traveled to Seattle, Washington, before going on to California.”
And when “Jr.” follows a name in a sentence, is it necessary to add a comma before
it? How about after it?
A. Yes. No. Only if you put one before it. (That is, the commas around “Jr.” are
optional.)
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I wish to say that I have oranges, apples, and pears, and all of the oranges, apples, and pears have recently arrived at
the supermarket. I write the following sentence: “I have oranges, apples, and pears, recently arrived
at the supermarket.” Does the comma before “recently” mean
that the words “recently arrived at the supermarket” apply to each of the oranges,
apples, and pears? If I removed the comma before “recently,” would the sentence
now mean that only the pears had recently arrived at the supermarket?
A. It might, but it wouldn’t be clear. (You know this; it’s why you’re
asking.) When meaning depends on such subtlety, being technically correct is of little value. If you want shoppers to know
what you mean, you’re going to have to say it. Actually, you did just that in your very first sentence.
For concision, you could tweak it: I have oranges, apples, and pears, all of which recently arrived at the supermarket.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]