Use of commas
The book was written by the noted Russian authors, Pavlov and Petrov, in 1927.
Should I write commas before Pavlov and after Petrov? If no, could you please explain, why?
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Answers · 9
4
No, you should not use commas here.
***If you put something in commas, you can delete it without affecting the sentence.***
My mother is named Dorothy. My mother bakes cakes.
-->My mother bakes cakes.=Dorothy bakes cakes.
-->My mother, Dorothy, bakes cakes.
Here, "Dorothy" is an "apposition". It RENAMES "my mother", but the sentence is complete without it. Notice that I only have one mother, so "my mother" uniquely identifies one person.
Bob Jones is an accountant. He bakes cakes. -->The accountant Bob Jones bakes cakes.
Notice that there are several accountants in the world. If I just said
"The accountant bakes cakes", then that sentence would give you MUCH LESS information than "The accountant Bob Jones bakes cakes." Therefore, "Bob Jones" is a necessary part of the sentence. I can't delete it without destroying the meaning. Therefore, I don't use commas.
However, now think about the reverse.
Bob Jones is an accountant. He bakes cakes. -->Bob Jones, the accountant, bakes cakes.
We usually think of names as uniquely identifying one person. If I say "Bob Jones", you can uniquely identify who I am talking about--it doesn't become any more specific if I say "the accountant". So, "the accountant" is not a NECESSARY part of the subject of the sentence, and I can put it in commas.
Of course, all of this depends on context, and what information I assume you have.
"This business employs 300 factory workers and one accountant. The accountant, Bob Jones, bakes cakes."--> here, "the accountant" identifies a single person, so I can use commas.
"Dorothy is my birth mother, and Sally is my stepmother. My mother Dorothy bakes cakes, but my mother Sally doesn't."-->Here, "my mother" DOESN'T uniquely identify one person, so I DON'T use commas.
If you are still confused, look at the "restrictive vs non-restrictive" section of this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apposition
3
Chris has given you the right answer:
***If you put something in commas, you can delete it without affecting the sentence.***
If you look at Chris's examples, you will see why your sentence should not have any commas.
"The book was written by the noted Russian authors in 1927" does not contain the same information as the sentence with the two names in it. The only context in which that sentence would be meaningful is if you had previously named the two authors, for example:
"Pavlov and Petrov researched the material for 'xxxx' between 1923 and 1926. The book was written by the noted Russian authors in 1927".
In that context, the phrase 'the noted Russian authors' is meaningful because it refers back to the two named individuals.
Obviously, there were more than two noted Russian authors in the world in 1927, so you cannot say 'the Russian authors' with a definite article without specifying who they were. Petrov and Pavlov were not unique in being noted Russian authors in 1927, so their names are therefore essential information. This is the reason why your sentence should not include the commas.
So when should you include commas? Compare your sentence with this one, for example:
"The book was written by two noted Russian authors, Pavlov and Petrov, in 1927."
In that sentence, you need to put the names between commas because they are in apposition: they give extra information, but the sentence is still complete and equally meaningful without them.
NB Most native speakers are unaware of the rules of comma use. As a professional editor, I often come across educated English-speaking writers who make similar mistakes.
1
You should use commas as explained by Chris.
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