Quora #5
rogersgeorge on December 28th, 2022
This one merits a comment or two:
Question:
Should I use a comma in this sentence, “My friend Tom earns 300 dollars in a week.”?
My reply:
You need two commas, one before and one after “Tom.”
My comment:
—or no commas! This is a good example of the difference between restrictive and non-restrictive phrases.
- Saying “my friend Tom” says that Tom is one of your friends. It’s restrictive.
- Saying “my friend, Tom,” adds the extra (technically unnecessary) information that your best friend’s name is “Tom.” It’s non-restrictive. You can remove what’s between the commas without changing the meaning of the sentence.
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