“I congratulate President Trump on his election as 47th President of the United States of America, as well as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and their families.
“I also thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for their service to our country.
“The strong turnout in this election is a sign of the health of our republic and the strength of our democratic institutions. Laura and I are grateful to the election officials, poll workers, and volunteers who oversaw a free and fair election.
“We join our fellow citizens in praying for the success of our new leaders at all levels of government. May God continue to bless our great country.”
***
The above is a recent statement by a former President of the United States of America, George W Bush. Beyond being a good gesture from a statesman, as he congratulated the country’s President-elect, Donald Trump, the piece provides the basis for our lesson today. We shall analyse three expressions in it, which many often find rather too tricky to handle. The way Bush presents the three is instructive.
Not ‘I and Laura’
When the subject of a clause combines the speaker/writer and another fellow, the name of the other party should come first. The same applies if personal pronouns (I, you, he etc.) are involved. It is a concept that symbolises courtesy/politeness and maturity. Unfortunately, a lot of folks are obsessed with putting themselves first:
I and John will be there. (Wrong)
Me and John will be there. (Wrong)
John and I will be there. (Correct)
The same rule applies when we have compound objects:
They invited me and John. (Wrong)
They invited John and me. (Correct)
Now, here is how our dear Bush does justice to this linguistic culture:
“Laura and I are grateful to the election officials…”
In other words, it would be inappropriate to say:
I and Laura are grateful to the election officials.
Double or no comma
Among other roles that commas play in communication, it helps in separating nonessential appositives (added information) as well as non-restrictive relative clauses. In such contexts, you can take out the elements inserted into clauses without injuring the structure. What is, however, very important is that we use two commas to mark out the apposition: one before it, the other after. It is a must to have the two in the context:
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was at the FEC meeting. (Wrong)
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was at the FEC meeting. (Correct)
The player, who got a red card during the match against Arsenal will not play today. (Wrong)
The player, who got a red card during the match against Arsenal, will not play today. (Correct)
There is, however, an alternative. You may choose to leave out both commas. The rule, yet, is that, when you decide to do this, neither of the commas should be there:
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu was at the FEC meeting. (Wrong)
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was at the FEC meeting. (Correct)
The player who got a red card during the match against Arsenal, will not play today. (Wrong)
The player who got a red card during the match against Arsenal will not play today. (Correct)
Again, this is how Bush smartly puts it in the message: “I congratulate President Trump on his election as 47th President of the United States of America, as well as Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and their families.”
He chooses not to separate ‘Vice President-elect’ and ‘J.D. Vance’ with any comma and he is firm and consistent at it. In other words, his sentence would have been faulty if he had put it thus: “I congratulate President Trump on his election as 47th President of the United States of America, as well as Vice President-elect, J.D. Vance and their families.”
The definite article in ‘the United States’
Of course, you should also note how the former President duly puts ‘the’ before the name of his dear country: the United States of America. Countries that have political titles in their names, those that refer to a group of islands or an assemblage of national entities as well as those with ‘Republic’ in their names should have the definite article preceding such:
I will be in United Kingdom tomorrow. (Wrong)
I will be in the United Kingdom tomorrow. (Correct)
I will be in UK tomorrow. (Wrong)
I will be in the UK tomorrow. (Correct)
I will be in Republic of Benin tomorrow. (Wrong)
I will be in the Republic of Benin tomorrow. (Correct)
I will be in United States tomorrow. (Wrong)
I will be in the United States tomorrow. (Correct)
I will be in USA tomorrow. (Wrong)
I will be in the USA tomorrow. (Correct)
I congratulate President Trump on his election as 47th President of United States of America… (Wrong)
I congratulate President Trump on his election as 47th President of the United States of America… (Correct)