Am I using commas for parenthesis properly here?

Question

I read an article about using commas for parenthesis and I want to make sure that I understand it properly. So can you guys tell me if I am using commas correctly in the following examples?

Examples:

My Mum, Jane Smith, is a nice lady.

Jake Mole, who is from Manchester, was arrested last night.

My daughter, Louise, is very helpful. ( Would this change to no commas if you had more than one daughter? For example if you had three daughters, how would you know which one is being talked about? )

My dog, which has one eye, is my best friend.

Those are my examples. So, am I using them right? If not, if you guys could explain to me how to properly use commas as parenthesis then that would be great. :)

I happened to google this which may interest you. – Neil W Apr 21 '14 at 03:45 — Neil W, Apr 21 '14 at 03:45
For what it's worth, those all look fine to me. – keshlam Apr 21 '14 at 04:16 — keshlam, Apr 21 '14 at 04:16

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 21 '14 at 03:34

This is one of these issues where there is no real right or wrong. Different dialects (American English, British English, etc.) sometimes have style guides that will define it one way or another. Try looking it up in your local style guide. Links to and/or comments about different countries' style guides follow.

American: No official nation-wide style guide exists. Try checking this Wikipedia page for commonly used American English style guides: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Style_guides_for_American_English

British: http://ec.europa.eu/translation/english/guidelines/documents/styleguide_english_dgt_en.pdf

Since I need more rep to post more than 2 links, here's Canadian: (Linking directly to the applicable section) http://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect7&info0=7.14#zz7 — ethguo, Apr 21 '14 at 03:35

Am I using commas for parenthesis properly here?

1 Answers1