Help me punctuate this sentence

[Activities]

I should know this, but I don't. Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated?

1) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host Bob Johnson’s house.

2) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s house.

3) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s, house.

4) Other (please explain)

 

[RunningJib]

Que?

I should know this, but I don't. Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated?

1) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host Bob Johnson’s house.

2) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s house.

3) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s, house.

4) Other (please explain)

What are you trying to say?

Consider:

As the last guest to arrive, she claimed the remaining bed.​

 

[ItalianStyle]

What about:

She had claimed the last free bed available from her friend/host, Bob Johnson's house.

 

[slyc_willie]

Personally, I think that sentence would be too awkward no matter how you punctuated it.

It wasn't strictly part of your question, but I would suggest a subtle change:

She'd claimed the last free bed in the house of her friend and host, Bob Johnson.

To me, that sounds smoother and isn't much changed from what you originally wrote.

 

[Weird Harold]

I should know this, but I don't. Which of the following sentences is correctly punctuated?

1) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host Bob Johnson’s house.

2) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s house.

3) She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend and host, Bob Johnson’s, house.

4) Other (please explain)

She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend, and host, Bob Johnson’s house.

The qualifier "and host" is a parenthetical that can be left out without altering the meaning of the sentence:

She’d claimed the last free bed in her friend Bob Johnson’s house.

Leaving out the "and host" might even work better, as it can be assumed that if she is claiming a bed, she is being hosted by the owner of the bed (and house.)

 

[Activities]

What are you trying to say?

Consider:

As the last guest to arrive, she claimed the remaining bed.​

I'm trying to establish that the lead character found an empty room in which to crash after a party at Bob Johnson's house. But I don't want to spend any more words on Bob Johnson than necessary, since he doesn't make an actual appearance in the story (but still needs to be mentioned for plot reasons). I'd like to get him out of the way in this one sentence.

 

[Activities]

Personally, I think that sentence would be too awkward no matter how you punctuated it.

It wasn't strictly part of your question, but I would suggest a subtle change:

She'd claimed the last free bed in the house of her friend and host, Bob Johnson.

To me, that sounds smoother and isn't much changed from what you originally wrote.

Yeah, that's a simple fix that does the trick. I'll probably go with this. Thanks.

 

[FUBARd1]

Personally, I think that sentence would be too awkward no matter how you punctuated it.

It wasn't strictly part of your question, but I would suggest a subtle change:

She'd claimed the last free bed in the house of her friend and host, Bob Johnson.

To me, that sounds smoother and isn't much changed from what you originally wrote.

I'd go with this suggestion. Conveys all the info you wanted to include, delivered in a much smoother sentence, IMO.

 

[RunningJib]

See Above

I'm trying to establish that the lead character found an empty room in which to crash after a party at Bob Johnson's house. But I don't want to spend any more words on Bob Johnson than necessary, since he doesn't make an actual appearance in the story (but still needs to be mentioned for plot reasons). I'd like to get him out of the way in this one sentence.

I think Harold articulated it very well. Too busy and no need to cram all that information into a single sentence

Meanwhile, I can't get around: "Her words just sent you over, you reach in and took hold of her and took her to her knees."

Can you believe that crap?

 

[sr71plt]

#3 is the grammatically correct version.

 

[scottslaughter]

I agree with Slyc Willie's suggestion the sentence is too awkward regardless of where you put the commas.

Slyc Willie's suggestion of:

She'd claimed the last free bed in the house of her friend and host, Bob Johnson.

makes the sentence sound much better.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

slyc and sr have wrapped it up. Thread over.