A salutation is a greeting, as in "Hi, Bonnie." Although we all start e-mail messages with "Hi Mom" or "Hi Bill," we do need a comma. Other examples include "Sure, Dad"; "Have a good time, Andy"; and "Eat, Grandma."
Now what would happen if we left off the comma? If we wrote "Sure Dad," it wouldn't confuse anyone. But if we wrote "Eat Grandma," well that has a completely different meaning!
Ask Me a Question
If you have a writing, grammar, style or punctuation question, send an e-mail message to curiouscase at sign hotmail dot com.
Add Your Own Criminal Sentence!
If you find a particularly terrible sentence somewhere, post it for all to see (go here and put it in the Comments section).
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Just to be pedantic, your example "Eat, Grandma" is not a salutation: it's an imperative!
Thanks for being pedantic! I needed that correction.
Don't let yourself be corrected so quickly. "Eat, Grandma" is an imperative sentence with a salutation. Beware of those anonymous pedants!
Post a Comment