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Doctanian Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Is a Comma Before "And" Redundant?
I think the question speaks for itself, but here's an example:
"She was beauftiful, kind, and wonderful."
I understand using commas for lists, but should I use a comma before the "and" here? I mean I only listed two things prior to it and I thought the "and" linked the three things together.
And does it apply to lists with more than three things?
"She was beautiful, kind, caring, and beautiful."
This is really confusing. I mean, what's the point of the comma if the "and" is there?
Thank you for your time.
"She was beauftiful, kind, and wonderful."
I understand using commas for lists, but should I use a comma before the "and" here? I mean I only listed two things prior to it and I thought the "and" linked the three things together.
And does it apply to lists with more than three things?
"She was beautiful, kind, caring, and beautiful."
This is really confusing. I mean, what's the point of the comma if the "and" is there?
Thank you for your time.
Top answer
This is commonly called the "serial comma" and its use or omission is a matter of style more that any hard and fast rule. My preference is to always use it since that makes for a simple and consistent rule. You can find any number of web sites that discuss the issue.
- This is commonly called the "serial comma" and its use or omission is a matter of style more that any hard and fast rule.
- My preference is to always use it since that makes for a simple and consistent rule.
- You can find any number of web sites that discuss the issue.
- Google "serial comma" including the quotes.
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3 Answers
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This is commonly called the "serial comma" and its use or omission is a matter of style more that any hard and fast rule. My preference is to always use it since that makes for a simple and consistent rule. You can find any number of web sites that discuss the issue. Google "serial comma" including the quotes.
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While the Oxford comma can rarely introduce ambiguity, I find it more frequently resolves ambiguity (and any ambiguity introduced by an Oxford comma was already there to begin with).
See, for example, the famous sentence from the Times (describing a documentary by Peter Ustinov):
"highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a
See, for example, the famous sentence from the Times (describing a documentary by Peter Ustinov):
"highlights of his global tour include encounters with Nelson Mandela, an 800-year-old demigod and a
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