My mother told me

[Bassim]

Please, would you take a look at this sentence and tell me if I punctuated it correctly.

My mother told me that I should have followed the example of my brother and sister who had been such excellent students.

 

[Rover_KE]

I think it's fine. Some people will prefer a comma before 'who'.

 

[5jj]

Some people will prefer a comma before 'who'.

I am one of those. Without a comma, the sentence suggests that the speaker has other siblings; these other siblings were not excellent students.

 

[charliedeut]

Some people will prefer a comma before 'who'.

I am one of those.

+1

 

[tzfujimino]

Without a comma, the sentence suggests that the speaker has other siblings; these other siblings were not excellent students.

I'm sorry to butt in.

Is it (=the difference between with and without a comma) detectable when the sentence is uttered?

 

[charliedeut]

I'm sorry to butt in.

Is it (=the difference between with and without a comma) detectable when the sentence is uttered?

It should, otherwise the ambiguity would still be there, IMO.

 

[5jj]

I'm sorry to butt in.

As I have said before, there is to need to apologise. Every member has the right to ask any question about English, to ask any relevant follow-up question in a thread and (if they have the knowledge) answer any question.

Without the comma in the sentence, there is no pause after 'sister'. With the comma, there is a pause.

 

[tzfujimino]

It should, otherwise the ambiguity would still be there, IMO.

If it's non-defining, what would be an indicator?
Could it be a slight pause between 'sister' and 'who'?

(Edit) Thank you, 5jj. I've just read your post.