Please help correct the following sentence (I'm studying for a test)?

Question

I don't know whether this sentence needs a comma before and after Marybeth Jones:
1) My friend Marybeth Jones lives at 1254 S.E. 56th Street, Bellevue, Washington.
Could someone explain to me why it does/doesn't need a comma? Marybeth Jones doesn't seem like an appostive phrase or does it?

Answer 1

"Marybeth Jones" is an appositive, as it is a noun set next to another noun to give further information. It is not an appositive phrase, because it only contains one term. Regardless, commas are not needed, because the term relays crucial information. Appositives only need to be set off with commas if they explain what the noun they modify means. In this sentence, the appositive is not used for explanation, but to identify which friend you're speaking of.

Check out the link below. It explains it very well.

Answer 2

You need a comma after "My friend" and after ...Jones".

Thus, it should read like so:

My friend, Marybeth Jones, lives at 1254 S.E. 56th Street, Bellevue, Washington.

I have answered your question in accord with my own best judgment, but I cannot guarantee accuracy since I am not an English instructor. There may be more than one way to punctuate this sentence.

Good luck on your test!

Answer 3

My friend, Marybeth Jones, lives at 1254 S.E. 56th Street, Bellevue, Washington.

If you take whatevers inbetween commas, its still a full sentence.

Answer 4

My friend, Marybeth Jones, lives at:
1254 S.E. 56th Street
Bellevue, Washington

I don't know what an appostive phrase is.

It needs a comma because you have a natural pause at these points when you speak it.

Answer 5

If you were to put commas before and after Marybeth Jones it would mean that you have only one friend and her name is Marybeth Jones. Without the commas, it means that Marybeth Jones, who is but one from among your universe of friends, is the friend who lives at 1254 S.E. 56th Street, etc. It's analogous to these examples, which harken back to the perennial which and that arguments in setting off restrictive and non-restrictive clauses.

1. Taxes, which inhibit economic growth, should be reduced. Meaning: All taxes inhibit economic growth and all should be reduced.

2. Taxes that inhibit economic growth should be reduced. Meaning: Some taxes inhibit economic growth, and some do not. Those that do should be reduced.

3. Taxes which inhibit economic growth should be reduced. Meaning: Ambiguous. Same words as in example 1, but without the commas. Is the author's meaning in example 3 intended to be identical to that in example 1 or identical to that in example 2?

Rule of thumb: Don't use which unless you can put a comma in front of it without changing its intended meaning, and then go ahead and put a comma in front of it. Some people argue that you should be able to use which in all three of the examples, relying solely on the presence or absence of commas to distinguish between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. However, many of the people who make that argument are careless with the placement of commas in their own writing and they themselves illustrate the unwisdom of risking everything on the presence or absence of a comma.

Answer 6

My friend, Marybeth Jones, lives at 1254 S.E. 56th Street, Bellevue, Washington.
^^Thats it.

Answer 7

My friend, marybeth jones, Friend is a noun thus a comma befor proper nounMarybeth Jones,

Answer 8

Yes, it does need a comma before and after the name. This is because the name is not needed for the sentence to make sence. My friend lives at 1254....... is just as comprehensible, therefore commas are needed.

Answer 9

Put a comma after friend and after Jones.

It is an appositive phrase since it is amplifying the noun friend. If you took out her name there would still be a valid sentence there. That is one easy test for whether to surround it with commas..

Answer 10

Mary Beth Jones needs commas at each end because yes, that's exactly what an appositive is!