 Show
Welcome to the Purdue OWLThis page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. Summary: This resource offers a number of pages about comma use. The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments. The rules provided here are those found in traditional handbooks; however, in certain rhetorical contexts and for specific purposes, these rules may be broken. The following is a short guide to get you started using commas. This resource also includes sections with more detailed rules and examples. Quick Guide to Commas
Writers frequently wonder whether a comma should go before the conjunction and in a list of three or more items. Despite the fact that not all style books agree on this issue, we recommend using a comma after the next-to-last item in a series—the serial comma, as it is called (or the Harvard or Oxford comma). This recommendation also applies, of course, when the items in a list are joined by the conjunction or. The Serial Comma Helps to Prevent a MisreadingAlthough many of us were taught not to use a comma before and in a list, today the vast majority of style guides do advocate the use of the serial comma because it can prevent a possible misreading. Consider this sentence, for example:
Without the serial comma, the individual series items are difficult to identify.
With the serial comma added, we can see clearly that we have here a list of four program topics, not two or three:
Although such logical precision might seem trivial when we are talking about topics at a conference, it can be absolutely crucial in certain kinds of writing. The Serial Comma is Especially Important in Legal WritingTake legal documents, for example. The Texas Law Review Manual on Usage, Style, and Editing insists on the use of the serial comma. In The Lawyer’s Book of Rules for Effective Legal Writing, Thomas R. Haggard says, “The serial comma is essential in legal writing because it promotes clarity” (17). Consider this sentence:
Without the serial comma, the sentence does not clearly indicate that each of the three children is to be given an equal share of the inheritance. Quite possibly (especially if Huey were a jerk), Huey would get half the money, and Dewey and Louie would have to split the other half. Here’s another example of a sentence in which the omission of the serial comma has a substantive effect on the meaning:
Without the serial comma before the last and, the sentence could be interpreted to mean that only the children of Betty and Harold Spivey are to receive a share of the inheritance and not the children of the other couples. But with the additional comma, the sentence more clearly communicates the idea that the children of all three couples are to receive a share:
In all kinds of writing, of course, the meaning of the items in a list may be obvious without the serial comma. But we are usually poor judges of our own clarity (or lack thereof). We tend to think we are being clear because we know what we mean to say. If we were to write, for example, “The table was covered with gifts, food and flowers,” the meaning might appear to be quite clear without the serial comma. But even this seemingly simple and clear sentence could be read two ways:
Not All Style Books AgreeIt is always wise to check your company’s in-house style manual or the style manual that governs your profession. In the United States, the vast majority of reputable style guides (with the exception of style guides for journalists, such as the well-known manual published by the Associated Press) encourage or even mandate the serial comma. We don’t know for certain, but we can suppose that print journalists omit the serial comma because in the early days of their profession, when most news was still delivered in print, saving keystrokes meant saving money. But even style guides that generally discourage its use do agree that at times it is necessary for clarity and/or readability. TEST YOURSELFWhich of these sentences would be improved by the addition of the serial comma?
ANSWERS
©2009 Get It Write. Revised 2020. Do you use commas when listing 3 things?As mentioned above, when you are listing three or more items, commas should separate each element of the list. However, the final comma—the one that comes before the and—is optional. This comma is called the serial comma or the Oxford comma.
Which punctuation is used to separate three or more items in a list?Use commas after each item in a list of three or more items.
What punctuation is used to separate words in a series?A semicolon has two general uses: to clarify a series and to indicate two closely related sentences. Series—If one or more elements in a series contain a comma, use semicolons to separate them. Include a semicolon before the final conjunction.
When listing 3 or more items use a comma before the word and?The Oxford comma, also called a serial comma, precedes "and" before the last item in a list. To use an Oxford comma, there should be three or more items in a list. If there are only two items, you do not need a serial comma before "and."
|
Use commas to separate three or more items in a series
Copyright © 2024 toptenid.com Inc.
