Should there be a comma in this sentence? Where should they be?
My friend Katrina moved to Seattle Washington recently.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
Read rule #4 -- scroll down below the pink chart for specifics.
Yes, there should be a comma in the sentence. Commas are used to separate two or more adjectives that describe the same noun. In this case, "Seattle" and "Washington" are both adjectives describing the noun "Seattle."
To determine the placement of the comma, we can use the following rule: when two or more coordinate adjectives appear before a noun, they are usually separated by commas. However, if the adjectives are cumulative (one adjective builds on the meaning of the previous one), a comma is not necessary.
In the sentence "My friend Katrina moved to Seattle, Washington recently," the adjectives "Seattle" and "Washington" are coordinate adjectives because they both describe the noun "Seattle" independently. Therefore, a comma should be placed between them.