My friend John / My friend, John, went with me to the store.

1) My friend John went with me to the store.

2) My friend, John, went with me to the store.

Are both sentences correct and what is the difference in meaning between them?

Thanks.

NOT A TEACHER

I don't know the answer precisely, but just to provide some kind of information that is related to what you asked about, I found this thread: http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/ge...ter-names.html

Hope it helps at least a bit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tan Elaine

1) My friend John went with me to the store.

2) My friend, John, went with me to the store.

Are both sentences correct and what is the difference in meaning between them?

Thanks.

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Both are correct. In the first one John is your only friend, in the second he is one of your friends.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bhaisahab

Both are correct. In the first one John is your only friend, in the second he is one of your friends.

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I rarely say this, but I disagree with Bhaisahab. I would not assume that John was your only friend with sentence 1. We regularly use "my friend + name" without pauses or commas, especially when speaking. I can certainly imagine saying to someone:

"My friend Sarah is an accountant. My friend Bob is a teacher. My friend Dave is a thriller writer. His friend Bill makes horror films. So some of my friends have really interesting jobs!"

For me "My friend, John, went with me to the store" is simply a sentence which gives slightly more information than "My friend went with me to the store".

What about?

My mother, who loves me very much, is a good cook.

In the above sentence, I believe a comma after 'mother' is obligatory because a person can have only one mother.

So does this apply to My friend, John, went with me to the store? In this case, does it imply that John is my only friend although it is unconceivable for a person to have only one friend.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tan Elaine

What about?

My mother, who loves me very much, is a good cook. In this sentence you are providing more information about your mother. The sentence would be acceptable without this information - "My mother is a good cook". Because of this added information, a comma is required. Having more than one mother is not a consideration here.

In the above sentence, I believe a comma after 'mother' is obligatory because a person can have only one mother.

So does this apply to My friend, John, went with me to the store? In this case, does it imply that John is my only friend although it is unconceivable inconceivable for a person to have only one friend. A person could certainly only have one friend. I agree that if there is a comma before John, John is one of your friends.

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Gil