Is there a comma between "you" and "three" in the sentence, "You three, get off your butt and do some work!"

Folks,

This seems like an easy question but I couldn't find an answer after spending about ten minutes searching. I think it's because it's hard to create a good search engine query for this question.

The closest answer I found was this: Should there be a comma between 'you' and 'darling' here?. But, the two scenarios seem a little different.

I distinctly remember being taught by my English teacher that there is a comma between you and the object but whenever I see it these days in a book or newpaper, the comma seems to be missing. Which is correct?

Solution 1:

Well, unless the person being called is named "Three" (which I find highly unlikely), there shouldn't be a comma between "you" and "three," as Mr. Ashworth and Damila explained above in a comment. After all, "you three", taken together, is a vocative—a composite one—which means that it must be directly followed by a comma.

The difference between your question and the one you linked to is that, in yours, "You three" is a composite vocative (as I've already mentioned), whereas in that question, only "darling" is a vocative; "you," there, is merely the object, the target, of the idiom "here's to."

If it helps, compare "Here's to you, darling," to the following sentence: "I hate you, darling." "You" isn't being used to address someone–only "darling" has that function. "You" is merely the object of the verb "hate." The same can be said about "Here's to you, darling." On the other hand, in "You three, get off your butt and do some work," "you" and "three" are used collectively to address someone.

I hope to have been of help.