Note: Most people would probably agree that commas are the most confusing punctuation marks because there are so many rules dictating when and how they should be used. I will not attempt to list all the comma rules on this page (there are some excellent sites listed on the Resources page that explain all the rules of comma usage); instead–in keeping with the theme of this site–I will highlight a few of the errors that I’ve observed to be the most common.
I often receive e-mails that begin with the following greeting: “Hi Rachel.” Although this is certainly a friendly way to begin a letter, it violates one of the many comma rules: Always use a comma when directly addressing someone/something, regardless of whether the direct address is at the beginning or end of the sentence. If the direct address is in the middle of a sentence, use a pair of commas to set off the direct address.
Note the placement of commas in the example sentences below:
Example 1: Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention? (Direct address at beginning of sentence)
Example 2: It was a pleasure to meet you, Sir. (Direct address at end of sentence)
Example 3: Thank you, my fellow grammarians, for remembering to use correct English. (Direct address in middle of sentence)
So, you see, the salutation “Hi Rachel” should be “Hi, Rachel.” A comma is needed between Hi and Rachel because it is a direct address.
Keep sending the e-mails my way, but remember that I’ll be on the lookout for any missing commas.
[...] most common gripe with the comma of direct address seems to be when people start e-mails with something like [...]
Hi,
How about: Nice to meet you, too.
I recently heard someone say it was ok to lose the comma.
Nice to meet you too.
But it doesn’t feel right. What do you think?
Thanks
Good question, Dave. Inserting a comma before too seems to be standard, although I don’t know of a rule explaining why. I would not think to place a comma before the word also if I were to use it in the same context as too, as in: “Nice to meet you also.”
Don’t forget, however, (notice the commas) that language is dynamic. Today’s rules become tomorrow’s anachronisms. Abbreviated forms of communication such as texting are putting huge pressure on written communication norms. Be alert! The “rules” may change.
I’ve struggled with the correct punctuation of “Hi Joe” and I agree with the trend of dropping the comma in this case. Perhaps someone will pass a new grammar law soon to allow for this.
Thank you for your insight, Terry. Are you suggesting that the comma be dropped in all cases of direct address, or just in e-mail salutations?
Even the comma at the end of the “Hi Joe” salutation doesn’t really make sense. Remember the old-fashioned “Dear Joe,” (with a comma)? In this case, the comma after Joe was for direct address, with the dear being an adjective inserted for politeness. “Hi Joe” is a sentence in and of itself, so if we really want to get technical about it, we could say it should have a period at the end (but then it wouldn’t look like a traditional salutation).
I don’t think that I have ever seen a comma placed between “Hi” and someone’s name in an email salutation. It seems awkward; and, I think many people will be thrown for a loop regarding this rule. Thanks for opening my eyes on this one.
Thanks for your comment, although I cannot for the life of me see how there could be any misreading of ‘Hi Rachel’.
I would just like to quote something from accu-assist.com:
“The Gregg Reference Manual notes that a salutation such as Hi Marie technically requires a comma after the word Hi as well as Marie. However, it also points out that this is a very informal salutation, and that inserting a comma after the word Hi would be carrying grammatical correctness to an extreme.”
Apparently The Gregg Reference Manual carries some weight on your side of the pond. Emails are often very informal, perhaps we shouldn’t always apply rules to them that were designed for more formal writing.
Where I come from there is one very simple rule for using a comma. It represents a short pause, pure and simple.
If you met Rachel in the street and used the informal greeting ‘Hi Rachel’, would you normally pause after ‘Hi’? I think not, unless you had temporarily forgotten her name. So why pause on paper?
After ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’, I agree you would pause, but probably not between ‘Nice to meet you’ and ‘Sir’. Example 3 is a non-defining relative clause which in speech we separate with pauses, so the commas are necessary.
@Carolina. I teach English in Poland and know that Polish for example uses commas for purely grammatical purposes, without any connection to speech. I would argue that in English it is different. What’s more, many ‘rules’ in English simply turn out to be some style-writer’s prejudices. Trust your native speaker colleagues.
@Warsaw Will: I agree that commas can represent a pause, but you have forgotten one other, probably more important, reason to use commas: to prevent a misreading. Several times I’ve encountered wording where someone left out the comma in direct address, and I misread the sentence entirely, particularly if there was an adjective right before the person’s name.
Are we pointing out that Sarah is pretty, or are we telling Sarah that something is pretty? Big difference there. This is common in short, informal writing, for example, on Facebook, where oftentimes it isn’t even a complete sentence, just something like, “Pretty Sarah,” which makes it even more likely to be misunderstood.
My favourite example:
Let’s eat Grandma!
Let’s eat, Grandma!
Correct punctuation saves lives!
That’s a good one!
It’s like the grammar book… “The panda bear eats shoots and leaves.” vs. “The panda bear eats, shoots, and leaves.” Commas change everything!
Carolina: That second to last sentence of yours should use the word “to” instead of the word “and”.
Your explanation on use of comma in direct speech was indeed very vivid. Sure never to make a mistake about this, now.
That makes perfect sense thank you.
@ David: The “Dear” salutation is different. “Dear” is a modifier, an adjective. It’s similar to saying “Precious [name]” or “Lovely [name].” There is never a comma between an adjective and the word it modifies. “Hi” is an interjection, so it is a different part of speech altogether. Does that make sense?
Does this rule apply in the specific case of an opening to a formal letter? I’ve been taught to open a letter with: “Dear [name],” in contrast to “Dear, [name],”.
Oh, it was such a bliss to find this article! I came from Russia, where I was the best in my class in literacy and grammar. Now I work in one of the primary schools in England and it gives me a constant cringe when I see such an appaling violation of this simple rule! Teachers constantly ignore commas when addressing, not to mention children who do not have an idea about that!!! I began to feel that I was doing it the wrong way. Now I have found the confirmation to what I have always known- thank you very much indeed! I will begin to implement it in my school wherever I can to try and change this sad tendency. I know, this is only a small thing but rules are rules and one must follow them, especially in schools.