Additive phrases and usage of Comma

Question

Does additive phrases always precede and end with a comma?

Secretary, as well as mayor, is joining the party.

OR could this be written as -
Secretary as well as mayor is joining the party.

OR 
Secretary, as well as mayor is joining the party.

Is there a general rule for all additive phrases and usage of COMMA.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear sa2222 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

First of all, I will say that far more important that anything about commas are the rules concerning the definite article. You absolutely need the definite article in front of the two people-related nouns in this sentence --- not " secretary " but " the secretary "; not " mayor " but " the mayor ." Any noun referring to a specific office absolutely has to have a definite article if we are referring to a particular person. If we are speaking in general, about no person in particular, perhaps hypothetically, we might say " a mayor of a large city might be ..." --- in other words, we might use the indefinite article under certain circumstances, or another modifier, but the unmodified word " mayor " with no article of any kind is NEVER used. The rules about use of the definite article are very hard, and much much more important than rules about commas. Now, as to your question --- think about it this way. Additive phrases that begin with " as well as ", " in addition to ", " including ", etc. are noun modifiers. The general rules for commas around modifiers has to do with the distinction of vital vs. non-vital modifiers . See: https://magoosh.com/gmat/2012/gmat-gramm ... modifiers/ I would say that, most of the time, additive phrases are not vital noun modifiers necessary to establish the identity of the noun; by their very nature, additive phrases are "extra," adding something else that is not necessary to the original noun. That would imply that, in the vast majority of cases, the additive phrase would be set off by commas. The secretary, as well as the mayor, is joining the party . Does this make sense? Mike :-)

sa2222 · Answer

Thank you Mike for pointing that out. I do need to straighten out my concepts of using articles correctly and I have that in my list. It takes first priority after your comment today

Ok, I do get the concept of non vital modifier and thus the usage of comma - as explained by you. But as you mentioned "most of the time", could you please provide me with one example using modifier "including" or any other additive phrase where we are using additive phrase as vital modifier. Non vital usage below - Spices, including salt and pepper, are added to the dish. Also "The secretary, as well as the mayor is joining the party." I think the above is incorrect because secretary is the subject here and no comma after mayor is suggesting that "clause is referring to the mayor rather than the secretary. Right?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear sa2222 , No example leaps to mind of an additive phrase that would act as a vital noun modifier. I am not sure whether it is possible, given the very nature of an additive phrase. Perhaps it should be "all the time", not "most of the time," but I am not 100% sure on that. If there is an exception, its rare and bizarre. For GMAT SC purposes, I think we can say --- additive phrases are always non-vital, and therefore are always set off by commas. And yes, if a phrase needs to be set off in commas, and we omit the second comma, that's a big problem. Mike :-)

sa2222 · Answer

OK, thank you Mike. I truly appreciate your time.

Thank you so much!!

Additive phrases and usage of Comma

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