1.) He was interviewed, along with his mother, who is employed here at the hospital.

2.) He was interviewed along with his mother, who is employed here at the hospital.

I am having trouble deciding which rule applies to this sentence.

EDIT: Answered my own question, I think!

No comma used as the phrase "along with his mother" is an essential phrase, thus should read, "He was interviewed along with his mother who is employed here at the hospital."

Ellen: If this is correct, please let me know. Commas are my nightmare. It seems that no matter how hard I study them, they still cause me trouble. Thanks.

[ 02-03-2004: Message edited by: cweb ]

If you in Florida, I do envy you so!! Its snowing here and very cold at 11 degrees above. Winter is never ending this year!!

I'm in Lake County, aptly named, and the part of Florida tourists never see although it is a popular place to retire to. We've had temps in the low 30s but nothing below freezing yet. You're welcome to visit; I have a nice guest room!

I'm packing up the wagon train and heading out!! Ha, I wish! Thank you for the invitation. We also have a spare bedroom, so come on out!! We live at a tiny airport just 100 miles east of Salt Lake City right off of Interstate 80. This is God's Country and I shouldn't complain. But winters do get long!! Wyoming has a way of testing your ability to deal with the elements. Just when you think you've had enough, the wind disappears, the sun comes out, and you forget all about the former anguish! Sounds like life in general! Have a great day!

May I comment on this? There is one change I would make to the above sentence. I would put a comma after "mother," because what follows it is an unrestrictive clause (so called because it is not needed to "restrict" or further define the word it is modifying, which in this case is "mother"). A person has only one mother, so any clause referring to her would automatically be an unrestrictive clause. And according to the rules of grammar, an unrestrictive clause should be preceded by a comma. Without the comma, the sentence is read as if you are trying to differentiate this particular mother from any other mother the person might have. Obviously that would be silly. So, it would need a comma.

Comments, anyone?

The rule is, use a comma before a nonessential relative clause when it appears at the end of a sentence. Sorry cweb!

Gail, thanks for the heads up!

[ 02-04-2004: Message edited by: ebadrake ]