Comma or Hyphen? Please advise.

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Anonymous  #446855  Tue, 27 Nov 07 11:03 AM
Hi there,

Which sentence is grammatically correct?  Do I have a comma or hyphen after the corporation name? Or do I write it a different way?  Thanks for your help.


  • The corporation you work for - Mantel, is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers.


  • The corporation you work for - Mantel - is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers.
  
Clive  #446905  Tue, 27 Nov 07 01:17 PM

Hi,

Which sentence is grammatically correct?  Do I have a comma or hyphen after the corporation name? Or do I write it a different way?  Thanks for your help.

The corporation you work for - Mantel, is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers.

The corporation you work for - Mantel - is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers.

The corporation you work for, Mantel, is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers. Needs the second comma

The corporation you work for - Mantel - is manufacturing a secret drug called Nectar and giving it to its soldiers. OK

Clive

 

  
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Grammar Geek  #446913  Tue, 27 Nov 07 01:30 PM

Just a side note, with nothing to do with the commas: ...and giving it to its soldiers.

Most corporations do not have soldiers, so this pronoun leaves me wondering who or what the soldiers do belong to. Of course, if this is science fiction, then perhaps the corporation does have soldiers.

  
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Hoa Thai  #446920  Tue, 27 Nov 07 01:39 PM
Hi Grammar Geek,

I asked the same question as you did, and found this introduction to a computer game called Haze:

"Twenty-five years in the future. Governments have outsourced military operations to private multinational corporations. As Jake Carpenter, a newly enlisted soldier in the Mantel army, you are seeking fulfillment and thrills by fighting for a good cause.

Thanks to their high-tech arsenal of vehicles, deadly weaponry, and performance enhancing bio-medical support, the Mantel Corporation's ruthlessly efficient soldiers are the most feared by terrorists, dictators, and the corporation's political enemies."

Hoa Thai

  
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Grammar Geek  #446923  Tue, 27 Nov 07 01:43 PM

Ah. What a lovely thought, isn't it? Thanks for clarifying.

  
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