How do you use the commas correctly in this sentence??

Question

I wasn't too sure if I should use semi-colons, nor how. I've had this pounded into my head all through high school, I get to college and I'm clueless!! How can I revise this sentence? Thanks guys

"One night, My mom’s cousin, DeeDee, her husband, David and their children came over for dinner. "

Answer 1

Let's look at the sentence without any commas:

"One night my mom's cousin DeeDee her husband David and their children came over for dinner."

How many people came over for dinner?

As you currently have it, it looks like the people who came over for dinner are as follows:
1. my mom's cousin
2. DeeDee
3. her husband
4. David
5. their chidlren

If DeeDee is "my mom's cousin," then to avoid confusion, you don't place a comma between "my mom's cousin" and "DeeDee."
If David is "her husband," then to avoid confusion, you don't place a comma between "her husband" and "David."

"One night" is an introductory phrase and thus needs to be set off with a comma. The way to double check if it's an introductory phrase or word is to see if the sentence is still a complete sentence without the word or phrase: "My mom's cousin DeeDee her husband David and their children came over for dinner" (commas purposefully left out).
Another way to check is to see if placing the word or phrase at the end of the sentence changes the meaning of the sentence: "My mom's cousin DeeDee her husband David and their children came over for dinner one night" (commas purposefully left out).

To the people who are saying place a comma where you pause, that's incorrect. There are set comma rules that any good grammar textbook would have. If you were to place a comma wherever you pause, then different people would place commas in different locations because not everyone would pause after the exact same word or phrase.

Answer 2

A comma is a pause, so to speak. Semicolons are used to separate. An EXAMPLE of when to use semicolons: "Here are some bible passages, I'd like you to research: Matthew 10:13; Mark 2:10; Jude 1; Revelation 6:4; Jeremiah 2:18."

Let's use your sentence for comma usage.

Here's my revision:
One night, my mom's cousin Dee Dee, her husband David and their children came over for dinner."

The way you have it worded it sounds so 'separated'. You are saying, my mom's cousin Dee Dee, her husband and their children came over for dinner. With your comma after cousin, it sounds like her cousin and DeeDee are two different people. Too many commas. It doesn't sound like something you'd say. Imagine saying this (but not saying 'pause', just pausing where you see the word) "My mom's cousin (pause) DeeDee (pause) her husband (pause) David and their children came over for dinner. Now if you said "One night, my mom's cousin, who goes by the name of DeeDee, her husband David and their children came over for dinner", then it would be ok to put a comma there.

Answer 3

My mom's cousin DeeDee, her husband David, and their children came over for dinner one night [last week].

Answer 4

One night, My mom's cousin DeeDee, her husband David and their children came over for dinner.

Answer 5

I would write it as follows:

One night my mom’s cousin Dee Dee, her husband David and their children came over for dinner.

As far as I know a comma after David may be OK but I try to use punctuation to make the sentence sound the way I want it to sound.

After I massaged it I gave it to the grammar section of MS Word. It had no problems with it.

IMO the way you wrote it; mom's cousin, Dee Dee, her husband, David and their children come off as four people plus an undetermined amount of children. And I have no idea who is with whom.

Answer 6

My mom’s cousin DeeDee, her husband David, and their children, came over for dinner one night.

The trick to figuring out where to put commas is to read the sentance out loud. Whenever you naturally want to pause, put a comma in that location.

You might want to move the one night to the end to reduce some commas as well.

Answer 7

I think it would be:
"One night my mom's cousin DeeDee, her husband David and their children came over for dinner."
my teachers used to say that everyone was using far too many commas! lol goodluck!
:)

Answer 8

One night, My mom’s cousin DeeDee, her husband David,and their children came over for dinner. " i was tought you place a comma when sighing like taking a breath... also its optional to put a comma before the word and.. i was told in school it depends on the teacher... hope this helps any.

Answer 9

It should be like this:

One night, my mom's cousin, DeeDee; her husband, David, and their children came over for dinner.

Answer 10

I think....

"One night my mom's cousin DeeDee, her husband David, and their children came over for dinner."

I'm not sure, but I believe that's how it's done.