comma with apposition (title): Fitz's book, The Fundamentals, on

P

pyroknife

Banned
American Eng
The sentence of interest, written by me, is:

"He read Fitz's book, The Fundamentals of Mechanics, on his own time."

The Fundamentals of Mechanics is the name of a book. Fitz is the author.



I know the word 'book' is not needed, but I would like include it because my audience is not as knowledgeable in writing as some of you.



Are the commas around the name of the book needed?
 
    • Copyright said:
    Yes.

    "He read Fitz's book, The Fundamentals of Mechanics, on his own time."
    "He read Fitz's The Fundamentals of Mechanics on his own time."
    Click to expand...
    Thanks.

    With "book," the commas are needed, but without "book," the commas are not necessary. Is this correct?
     
    That is correct. You need the commas with 'book' because then you are naming the same thing twice, the book, and The Fundamentals of Mechanics, so the second amounts to a restatement and explanation of the first that was inserted between the subject [book] and the adverbial phrase "on his own time". The paired commas mark the title as a something that could be removed without affecting the basic structure or sense of the sentence.
     
    Is the comma needed in the following 2 sentences? 1) Jody is the protagonist in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel, The Yearling. 2) You named your baby, Lance. (This sentence is to mean that the baby's name is Lance. This sentence is not addressing someone named Lance who named his baby.)
     
    Hello seriously - welcome to the forums!

    I would say that:
    - you need the red comma in
    Jody is the protagonist in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel, The Yearling.
    - you definitely don't need a comma after "baby" in
    You named your baby Lance.
    :)
     
    I fully agree about not putting a comma between 'baby' and 'Lance'. As for a comma between 'novel' and 'The Yearling', I'm not sure I agree that it's needed since Rawlings wrote several novels. I have the notion the rules regarding restrictiveness apply in that case. If 'The Yearling' is nonessential information, then there should be a comma, but if essential, then no comma. For comparison:
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the novel The Yearling
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the wonderful novel The Yearling.
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the Rawlings novel The Yearling.
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel The Yearling.
    .​
     
    EStjarn said:
    I fully agree about not putting a comma between 'baby' and 'Lance'. As for a comma between 'novel' and 'The Yearling', I'm not sure I agree that it's needed since Rawlings wrote several novels. I have the notion the rules regarding restrictiveness apply in that case. If 'The Yearling' is nonessential information, then there should be a comma, but if essential, then no comma. For comparison:
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the novel The Yearling
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the wonderful novel The Yearling.
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the Rawlings novel The Yearling.
    .
    Jody is the protagonist in the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel The Yearling.
    .​
    Click to expand...
    I agree.:thumbsup:
     
    Thanks for your well-considered replies! Tusen takk and muchas gracias to EStjarn, and mille grazie and ta, cheers, to Einstein! You folks rock this tongue-tied, terraformed, turf-ship!!! SERIOUSLY!
     
    Welcome from me too, Seriously:)

    I agree with everyone about Lance.

    I also agree with E & E about The Yearling ......... however, if I was editing that, I'd change it to in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' novel The Yearling, but that's only because I don't care for long 'strings' that go noun+noun+noun+noun+noun with no variation of any kind:)
     
    Many thanks for chiming in, Ewie! :)

    Another comma/name question (I hope this hasn't already been covered) - do the commas belong in the following sentence?

    I would like you to meet my wife, Maria, and her elder daughter, Sue.

    Based on the answers I got to my prior inquiry, I'm thinking that the comma does NOT belong after "wife" nor after "Maria," but the comma DOES belong after "daughter." Am I wrong?

    << A new topic removed. >>

    Please advise. THNX to all!!

    SERIOUSLY!


    << Moderator's note: A new topic needs its own thread. :) >>
     
    Last edited by a moderator:
    "Fitz's book, The fundamentals..." might imply that this is the only book he ever wrote.
    "Fitz's book The fundamentals ..." does not have this implication.

    By the way, you should say in his own time.
     
    seriously said:
    ...do the commas belong in the following sentence?

    I would like you to meet my wife, Maria, and her elder daughter, Sue.
    Click to expand...

    I would say they do.

    If you have only one wife, then both 'my wife' and 'Maria' will refer specifically to her. The two phrases, when put next to each other, are in apposition, and there should be a comma between them: my wife, Maria.

    However, if you happen to have two wives, then 'my wife' could refer to either 'Maria' or, say, 'Agnes', so you may want to indicate which one you're referring to by adding the name to the phrase itself, thereby restricting (or specifying) the phrase's meaning: my wife Maria (as opposed to 'my wife Agnes').

    Now, the topic sentence represents a special case because the people you are about to refer to are there with you: you're not speaking about them but introducing them, which in effect means that even if you had two wives there could be no ambiguity as to whom you were referring to when you said 'my wife' since she'd be standing right next to you. Her presence puts the two phrases in apposition: I would like you to meet my wife, Maria.

    (The same reasoning holds true for 'my wife's elder daughter' vs. 'Sue'.)
     
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