Need punctuation help, please

[ElizK]

I'm in an English composition class. I need some help with commas in this particular sentence. I have the bad habit of throwing in commas higgledy-piggledy.

Here's the sentence as I wrote it:

"Soon after my daughter, Jamie, was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

Is this correct? If not, please tell me the correct punctuation. Thanks!

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Looks right to me!

 

[Minnie_me]

You actually don't need the commas around your daughter's name.

It's perfectly acceptable (and less comma-laden) this way:

"Soon after my daughter Jamie was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

 

[okeydokey]

No commas around Jamie.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

You actually don't need the commas around your daughter's name.

It's perfectly acceptable (and less comma-laden) this way:

Yup, you don't need commas around 'Jamie'. You're not pausing or separating that part of the sentence. The pause comes after you mention your daughter Jamie's birth.

 

[ElizK]

Thank you so much! I appreciate your help.

 

[disney1990]

Looks good. I, too, would remove the comas around Jamie

 

[Magic Mom]

No commas around Jamie.

 

[Imzadi]

I'm comma challenged, too. I think I tend to put in more than are necessary. I used to have good grammar. But somehow, the synapses in my brain, especially in the comma department have fizzled.

I thought you were supposed to put commas around Jamie, too, as it is not necessary to the sentence. "Soon after my daughter was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

Oh, and do you put a comma before the word "too?" See my sentence above.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

I'm comma challenged, too. I think I tend to put in more than are necessary. I used to have good grammar. But somehow, the synapses in my brain, especially in the comma department have fizzled.

I thought you were supposed to put commas around Jamie, too, as it is not necessary to the sentence. "Soon after my daughter was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

Oh, and do you put a comma before the word "too?" See my sentence above.

This is what I thought. In my defense, I have also been accused of being a little comma happy.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

I was taught in school that there should be commas around Jamie because daughter and Jamie are the same thing, therefore they need to be separated by commas. However, in the business world, I've been told NOT to put commas.

 

[mhsjax]

I'm comma challenged, too. I think I tend to put in more than are necessary. I used to have good grammar. But somehow, the synapses in my brain, especially in the comma department have fizzled.

I thought you were supposed to put commas around Jamie, too, as it is not necessary to the sentence. "Soon after my daughter was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

Oh, and do you put a comma before the word "too?" See my sentence above.

I tend to over comatize, lol myself. Those brain synapses are tough to fire off these days. That saying,"Of all the things I have lost, I miss my mind the most" really applies to me.

 

[FireDancer]

I agree with the others and even no commas would look correct to me. Had the sentence been written as:

"Soon after Jamie, my daughter, was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

the commas would be needed, at least I think. I also think the removal of an in front of organized would make the sentence better. It isn't incorrect but the other way seems more conversational to me and I believe in writing as though it will be read out loud.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm comma challenged as well.

In fact, I will try and structure sentences so that I don't have to use them if it can be helped.

 

[Imzadi]

I believe in writing as though it will be read out loud.

I was taught the commas are there to make sense as a person reads it. Otherwise, it can become one long, mushy, run-on sentence.

But, in Speech class, when reciting a speech or monologue, I was taught to take out the comma breaks and memorize it that way. I was unconsciously pausing at each comma, instead of letting a sentence flow naturally as we would say it. We don't think thoughts with commas. That the commas are really only for reading comprehension.

That's probably when my brain got screwed up - when I was made to take them all out for learning speeches. Now, in writing, I tend to over-commatize, to make it easier for others to read, even if it's not grammatically correct.

 

[surfergirl602]

IN all of my English classes, even in college, we learned to put commas around proper names, etc.

I have found this to be a good site

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

 

[Feralpeg]

I was taught in school that there should be commas around Jamie because daughter and Jamie are the same thing, therefore they need to be separated by commas. However, in the business world, I've been told NOT to put commas.

This is what I was taught in college journaism courses.

 

[tasha99]

I would leave the commas out around "Jaime." It's an appositive and I would surely put it in if it had been:

Jaime, my daughter, was . . .

With it the other way around, though, the commas just seem stilted. I think it's a grammar gray area, where the rule says one thing, but no one actually writes like that anymore.

 

[deedeecee]

No commas are needed around the name Jamie because the name is necessary in that sentence. It is necessary because you have more than one daughter (the sentence mentions placing the *girls* in daycare).
However, if Jamie is the only daughter, then there should be commas around her name in that sentence, because her name would be superfluous. Just mentioning 'daughter' is sufficient because if there is only one daughter, the sentence is obviously about only-daughter Jamie.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm in an English composition class. I need some help with commas in this particular sentence. I have the bad habit of throwing in commas higgledy-piggledy.

Here's the sentence as I wrote it:

"Soon after my daughter, Jamie, was born, my husband and I needed to place our girls into an organized daycare."

Is this correct? If not, please tell me the correct punctuation. Thanks!

Well, I'm checking with the experts. I'll post as soon as I get a response!

By the way - you might want to read the book, "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves".