Commas or no commas in this sentence

[PeterB]

I think either is acceptable. In this case though, the commas are not strictly necessary.

[NewtonMP2100]

....comma....chameleon.....you come and go.....you come and go....

[hal]

Can you think of any other popular laws that have been broken by people?

[testcase]

I'd go WITH both commas. That said, the sentence would still make sense without them.

[Diana]

Todd:

Both versions are grammatically correct as far as I can see. Keep in mind, I'm not an editor. I favor the one using the commas as it emphasizes past action leading to the present (and possibly the future). The first one, without the commas, feels "wordy" to me.

hal:

Can you think of any other popular laws that have been broken by people?

Me:

Can you think of any other popular laws that people may have broken? or Can you think of any other popular laws that people may have broke?

I'm not sure about broken/broke though.

[Diana]

NewtonMP2100 wrote:
....comma....chameleon.....you come and go.....you come and go....

Thank you. Now that's running through my brain.

[rich in distress]

What about parentheses?

[Janit]

The whole sentence feels clunky to me. The use of commas might make it feel less clunky, but that would be camouflage, and disguise is not the purpose of commas.

I would want to interview you about what is your purpose in asking this question, who are you asking it of, and what is the context.

With that information in hand, I would recommend a rewrite, with special attention to eliminating the passive voice.

- signed with Janit's editorial keyboard

[Todd's keyboard]

To clarify, the sentence is one sentence in an exercise to practice use and proper placement of commas.

Ten sentences (all without commas) are given. The assignment is to place all necessary commas in their proper locations. For example, another sentence is to use one or more commas to punctuate a direct quotation.

I'm pretty sure the person who created the exercise wants students to choose version B (with the two commas). Some grammar books would call these "interrupter" commas (or some variation of "interrupt").

It's hard for me to tell students that option B is the only correct option. Version A sounds perfectly acceptable. Students sometimes find it confusing when I don't agree 100% with the text.

Todd's alternative answer-key board

[gabester]

I choose A - but I am not an Oxford comma fan...

A. Can you think of any other popular laws that are or were broken by people?

Phrasing this a little different -

Can you think of any other popular laws that people break or that people broke?

Adding an Oxford/serial comma here would seem peculiar (although not technically incorrect):

Can you think of any other popular laws that people break, or broke

If you just have two elements to differentiate then the conjunction suffices...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

I'd add one or more commas if you have more elements...

Can you think of any other popular laws that are, were, or could be broken by people?

At the very least you'd need one in case:

Can you think of any other popular laws that are, were or could be broken by people?

Can you think of any other popular laws that people broke, break, or could break?

(Huh it's funny but I skimmed some of the comments including Janit's and didn't realize that I unconsciously agreed and rewrote in non-passive voice for a clearer example.)