How To Use Commas In A Greeting
You can also use a comma with a shorter phrase when you want to emphasize it or add a pause for literary effect.
How to use commas in a greeting. In this situation a comma follows the interjection and a period or exclamation point follows the recipient s name. When signing off you always want a comma between your sign off aka your complimentary close and the name s of the sender s. Use a colon in a business letter. Begin the message on the following line hi lola. Julie thanks for the.
The oxford comma is an infamous example. Danny thank you for your thoughtful message. Yes you need to use a comma between the person s name and the greeting. As a rule of thumb if the phrase is longer than about four words use the comma. There are some cases where you know you should use a comma such as when separating items in a list but there are other times when you might be unsure whether or not a comma is needed.
It is also standard practice to put a comma after the name of the person you re addressing. Hi julie english teachers don t like this choice. Snodgrass or dear ms. But see exceptions below the reason is direct address we use commas to show that we are talking to the reader not about the reader. When the salutation in your letter or email starts with hello or hi then you should put a comma before the name of the person you re addressing.
Best wishes mark mary sally and sam. When an adverbial phrase begins a sentence it s often followed by a comma but it doesn t have to be especially if it s short. Commas confuse us perhaps because there are so many rules for using them and also because comma usage varies by style. While there s some degree of flexibility in how commas are used it s important to have a clear grasp of the rules. The associated press ap stylebook doesn t ban the oxford comma but the guide recommends using it only when necessary for clarity.
Casual salutations between friends and family. Realistically most of us will use an interjection such as hi or hello instead of dear when inviting a coworker for coffee. If your email has an informal tone insert a comma between the greeting and the name and use either a comma or a period at the end of the greeting. Best wishes mark mary sally and sam. Commas can be a particularly tricky punctuation mark.