I want you to meet my friend Marjorie, who I think I mentioned in my last letter.

Status
Not open for further replies.

99bottles

Banned
Joined
Apr 11, 2018
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Greek
Home Country
Greece
Current Location
Greece
"I want you to meet my friend Marjorie, who I think I mentioned in the last letter."

This is a sentence I came across in an online dictionary. I wonder: Shouldn't there be a comma between the word 'friend' and the word 'Marjorie'? Or am I wrong?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

jutfrank

VIP Member
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
No, no comma is needed since Marjorie is in restrictive apposition to my friend. That means that it identifies which friend you're talking about.

Putting a comma before Marjorie, (a pause in speech) changes the meaning, making Marjorie understood as non-essential, non-restrictive information. In other words, that would be a way simply to mention the name of your friend rather than identify which friend you mean.
 

Phaedrus

Banned
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
"I want you to meet my friend Marjorie, who I think I mentioned in the last letter."

This is a sentence I came across in an online dictionary. I wonder: Shouldn't there be a comma between the word 'friend' and the word 'Marjorie'? Or am I wrong?

I agree with Jutfrank about keeping the restrictive appositive comma-free. I'd just like to cast my vote for "whom" in the nonrestrictive relative clause. The relative pronoun functions as the direct object of "mentioned" in the relative clause. "Who" would have been considered formally incorrect there even half a century ago.
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
But today, you'd have to be in very formal circles for who to be considered wrong.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top