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comma necessary?

Reply Fri 16 May, 2008 08:05 pm
John, whose father is a lawyer, is my best friend.

Are the commas obligatory?

Thanks in advance.

TTH
 
Reply Fri 16 May, 2008 09:57 pm
Hi tanguatlay Very Happy
I would use the commas, but I am not an English expert. You should wait until someone who has a better understanding of the English language comes along.
0 Replies
contrex
 
Reply Sat 17 May, 2008 01:16 am
The commas are neccessary. The phrase "whose father is a lawyer" is a parenthetical phrase, which means that it interrupts the sentence "John is my best friend" in order to add information about John.

If the information contained in such a parenthetical phrase is not essential to the meaning of the phrase, it is set off by commas. If not, no commas should be used:

John who saved my life is my best friend.

An article about commas is to be found at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_(punctuation)
0 Replies
Reply Sat 17 May, 2008 10:44 am
great advice, my native language is spanish, and even in spanish commas are necessary in examples like this...
0 Replies
contrex
 
Reply Sat 17 May, 2008 02:52 pm
I wrote this

If the information contained in such a parenthetical phrase is not essential to the meaning of the phrase, it is set off by commas.

I should have written this

If the information contained in such a parenthetical phrase is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, it is set off by commas.
0 Replies
NickFun
 
Reply Sat 17 May, 2008 03:42 pm
The comma is required as "John is my best friend" could stand on its own and the remainder expresses another thought.
0 Replies
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