Q. Can you help me out with a question? Do you use a comma after the abbreviation of the word incorporated? For example, in the sentence “Today, ABC Company, Inc., announced that their earnings have increased 50 percent in the past year,” we have been told to use a comma after the word “Inc.” when used in a sentence. This has caused an uproar within the company because we did not learn this rule. Help!
A. According to CMOS 6.48,
Commas are not required around Inc., Ltd., and such as part of a company’s name. A particular company may use such commas in its corporate documentation; articles and books about such companies, however, should generally opt for a consistent style rather than make exceptions for particular cases.
The trick in running text is that if you use one comma, you must use two.
Q. In our international magazine mailings, we always include the country name; however, we would like to know the correct procedure
for including “USA” after the city/state/ZIP. Is there a comma after the ZIP code
or not? Your assistance would greatly reduce the amount of tension/dissension among the writers and editor and proofreader.
A. There should be no comma before or after a zip code:
1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637 USA
Q. If you say “so-and-so is vice president, finance, of such and such,” should there
be a comma after “finance”? My boss and I are in disagreement. I think there should
be a comma but she says no. I can’t find a specific reference to this anywhere, though.
A. Anything that is set off from all or part of a sentence requires two commas, unless the word or phrase being set off is at
the beginning or end of the sentence, in which case only one comma is required. Some examples:
January 4, 1844, was a day like any other.
The suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, eventually overlap with those of Washington, DC.
The University of California, Berkeley, has a beautiful campus.
Your options are as follows, in order of preference:
So and so is vice president, finance, of such and such . . .
So and so is vice president–finance of such and such . . .
So and so is vice president (finance) of such and such . . .
I would not go so far as to write “vice president finance of such and such.”
Note the en dash in the second example (–); an en dash is midway in length between a hyphen (-) and
an em dash (—) and can join a modifier (in this case “finance”)
to an open compound (“vice president”).
Q. What is a “restrictive” appositive? I have read paragraphs 5.21 and 6.26, but
I do not understand the difference between the two types of examples, distinguishing the use of commas by this term. Please
advise . . . my client wants to know the “why”
behind my editorial source.
A. “Restrictive” appositives cannot be removed from a sentence without obscuring
the identity of the word or phrase that the appositive is intended to identify. Take the following two sentences:
My cat Philby is fat. [I have two cats.]
My cat, Philby, is fat. [I have one cat.]
Note the similarities; if you study the two sentences closely, you will see that they are in fact identical—except
for the commas. The problem is that if you take “Philby” away from the first sentence—whereas
you know I have two cats—you’d have no way of knowing, assuming no additional
context, which of my two cats I was talking about. If you take “Philby” away from
the second sentence—knowing that I have just one cat—you’d
still know it’s Philby that has the weight problem. The commas serve to set off what is essentially
ancillary—or nonrestrictive—information.
Q. I totally agree with Chicago’s use of the serial comma. However, I am creating a style guide for a
company that does not use the serial comma. For the sake of consistency, I am considering stating in the guide that the serial
comma is not to be used at all (yikes!). My question is: Is it better to be consistent (and not use the serial comma at all)
OR to add in the serial comma ONLY when it is necessary to prevent ambiguity? I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the
serial comma at all times, but alas, I am just a lowly intern. Thanks a lot for your help!
A. Well, if you don’t allow it at all, you will at times be stuck with situations like the following hypothetical
dedication page that our managing editor likes to cite: “With gratitude to my parents, Mother Teresa
and the pope.” (Maybe that example will help you change your company’s policy.)
Q. Are phrases regarding the location of something deemed restrictive or not? Must one know whether only one exists in order
to insert commas? I know it is always “the White House, in Washington, D.C.” But
must it also then be “Bob’s Hardware in Dallas” when I do
not know if there are other places that go by the same name? If I encountered “Bob’s
upstairs neighbor Bill,” and didn’t know if he lived below one person or on the
second floor of a ten-story building, I would have to make it restrictive, yes? So wouldn’t the same
rule apply here? I work for a weekly magazine without a research department and this question has been preying on my frazzled
mind for some time—please help!
A. I must admit that this problem has never crossed my mind—probably because copy editors rarely have
the time and resources to check every fact they read and must therefore allow a certain amount of ambiguity in order to get
through the day. When the facts are unknown, I would treat the phrase as though it were restrictive, with the reasoning that
it’s cleaner and easier to omit the commas.
Q. I seem to be alone in my habit of including a comma in e-mail greetings that begin with a salutation (e.g., “Hi,
Mom!”). Most people, perhaps inspired by the more formal “Dear Mom,”
seem to think it should be without comma. What do you think?
A. You are right: in formal writing, direct address takes a comma before the person’s name. One could
argue, however, that e-mails aren’t formal, and that there’s little harm in streamlining
for the sake of efficiency—and I think I can speak for moms everywhere in saying that we’ll
take whatever we get in this regard.
Q. I always use commas in serial lists. However, if I am referring to an entity that does not use the comma in its name, should
I add it for consistency? Should the Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation become the School
of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation? Similarly, the Chicago Manual recommends no comma before “Inc.” If I am referring to an old firm that used
the comma, should I delete it? Should Louis Sherry, Inc. become Louis Sherry Inc.?
A. There’s no harm in styling company names exactly as they do. But most of the time editors have no easy
way—and certainly not the time—to check the punctuation in every company name
or title that pops up in the text. Even at a company’s website, you will often find it punctuated one
way in a letterhead or logo and another way in the text of the web page. That’s why we have arbitrary
styling rules—we treat everyone the same way and we don’t have to pause and think
about it each time.
Q. What is the proper comma usage in describing a series of nouns with a single adjective? For example, “This
spring’s collection emphasizes sexy lingerie, blouses, skirts, and mukluks.” I
am devoted to the serial comma, but should a comma be included after the third item if I want the adjective to apply to all
four items? I write for an online retailer and often find myself stumped by this little conundrum.
A. If the adjective applies to all four nouns, a serial comma is harmless. The problem arises if the adjective is meant to apply
only to some of the nouns. In that case, the comma is the least of your worries. To avoid ambiguity, you should put only the
modified nouns after the adjective: “This spring’s collection emphasizes mukluks
and sexy blouses, skirts, and lingerie.”
Q. Is it correct or incorrect to put a comma before the “and” in the following sentence:
“The Department of Justice has taken on the role of coordinating agencies’ activities,
and has undertaken several new initiatives related to dealing with criminals.” I think it’s
correct because the second clause—although not an independent clause, strictly speaking—is
so long (and the subject is implied). The comma seems to help the reader get through the sentence. Many thanks.
A. The comma isn’t necessary, but if you want to indicate a pause, add it anyway. Please see CMOS 6.16: “The comma, aside from its technical uses in mathematical, bibliographical, and other contexts,
indicates the smallest break in sentence structure. Especially in spoken contexts, it usually denotes a slight pause. Effective
use of the comma involves good judgment, with ease of reading the end in view.”