Could anybody write me whether I should put the comma before and after the word of personally in this phrase. @ You, personally, in Your previous capacity@
Thank in advance
I would not choose to use that phrase at all as it is long-winded, but if I had to, I would punctuate it like this:
You, personally, in your previous capacity.
I would not choose to use that phrase at all as it is long-winded, but if I had to, I would punctuate it like this:
You, personally, in your previous capacity.
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
Hello, Lilly:
You have asked a very interesting question. I have checked my books and would like to share a few ideas with you.
First, it is always easier for analysis if you use a complete sentence.
So let’s consider:
You personally in your previous capacity had the power to give me that job. I am very angry that you decided to give it to someone else. I shall never talk to you again.
According to my books, “personally” is an adverb that can be used in many ways – depending on what kind of sentence is being used. Look at these examples from a very respected grammar book:
I personally have never been to New York.
I myself have never been to New York.
In that kind of sentence, the authors say, the adverb “personally” = the reflexive pronoun.
So I THINK that we could say that your sentence is the same as:
You yourself in your previous capacity had the power to give me that job.
Now if you read that sentence aloud, where would you pause?
I PERSONALLY (!) would read it like this (the commas = pauses):
You personally, in your previous capacity, had the power to give me that job. (In other words, the words “in your previous capacity” could be deleted [erased] and the main idea would remain: YOU PERSONALLY HAD THE POWER TO GIVE ME THAT JOB.)
James
P.S. Thanks so much for your question. I learned SO much while researching the use of the adverb “personally.”
A COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (1985) by Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik, page 618.