Transcript Commas - Degrees and Titles #36

Commas with
Degrees and
Titles
Mini-Lesson #36
UWF Writing Laboratory
51/158
474-2029
THE RULE:
A comma separates initials, degrees, or
titles from a name and from the rest of
the sentence.
For example, a pair of commas is used in the
following sentences because the titles are
parenthetical:
Robert Yeager, Professor of English, is chair
of the Department of English and Foreign
Languages.
Charles, Prince of Wales, has remarried.
Exceptions to the Rule
If the title or degree precedes the name, no
comma is needed.
Professor Yeager is chair of the English and
Foreign Languages Department.
No comma is needed between a name and birth
or royal ranks sch as I, II, and so on.
Queen Elizabeth II
Deal Prince Watkins III
Usage is divided on how to separate Jr. from the
name and the sentence.
Jr. may be seen as a restrictive title:
Hank Williams Jr. had tears in his beer.
Or only one comma is needed to separate Jr. from
the proper name:
Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968.
Or Jr. can be seen as parenthetical:
Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in 1968.
Let’s Practice!
Carol Surles Ph.D. and Loretta Anderson J.D. are my
former classmates and “city mates.”
Carol Surles, Ph.D., and Loretta Anderson, J.D., are
my former classmates and “city mates.”
Lou Gossett, II is also an actor like his father.
Lou Gossett II is also an actor like his father.