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JJDouglas Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Do rules for punctuating lists trump rules for punctuating independent clauses?
Hello,
In cases where there is a list of three or more closely related independent clauses, do commas become an acceptable way of punctuating them? Instead of using semi-colons/full stops as is usually the case.
For instance, would grammarians accept how the following are punctuated?
"It's October. Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air, and the gradually dwindling sun is slowly fading, leading us into the dark winter days."
"The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed, and Tony went plummeting towards the ground."
So in the first example, is a comma fine to use after the word 'ground'? And is one fine after 'snapped' in the second?
Thank you.
In cases where there is a list of three or more closely related independent clauses, do commas become an acceptable way of punctuating them? Instead of using semi-colons/full stops as is usually the case.
For instance, would grammarians accept how the following are punctuated?
"It's October. Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air, and the gradually dwindling sun is slowly fading, leading us into the dark winter days."
"The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed, and Tony went plummeting towards the ground."
So in the first example, is a comma fine to use after the word 'ground'? And is one fine after 'snapped' in the second?
Thank you.
Top answer
"It's October. " The punctuation is used correctly in both examples. Since you have that "and" (highlighted in red), commas work perfectly.
- "It's October.
- " The punctuation is used correctly in both examples.
- Since you have that "and" (highlighted in red), commas work perfectly.
- If you didn't have that conjunction there, however, you'd be using semicolons.
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3 Answers
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"It's October. Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air, and the gradually dwindling sun is slowly fading, leading us into the dark winter days."
"The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed, and Tony went plummeting towards the ground."
The punctuation is used correctly i
"The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed, and Tony went plummeting towards the ground."
The punctuation is used correctly i
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Thanks for your reply.
What about the first comma in both examples?
"Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air"— these are two independent clauses separated by a comma are they not? Because they are being written in a list, is a comma acceptable?
Same with "The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed" — Is a comma fine here?
What about the first comma in both examples?
"Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground, there is a cold chill in the air"— these are two independent clauses separated by a comma are they not? Because they are being written in a list, is a comma acceptable?
Same with "The rope snapped, the bridge collapsed" — Is a comma fine here?
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Dead leaves are being whisked across the ground; there is a cold chill in the air.
The rope snapped; the bridge collapsed
In theory, from a grammarian's perspective, both examples consist of two independent clauses, which means that a semicolon is required. In practice, however, I often see writers i
The rope snapped; the bridge collapsed
In theory, from a grammarian's perspective, both examples consist of two independent clauses, which means that a semicolon is required. In practice, however, I often see writers i
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