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Anonymous Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Punctuation in large list of family members.
If I wanted to write a list of family members in a house and their names, how should I go about it? For example.
A lives with his parents B and C, his sister D, his cousins E, F and G, and their pets H, I and J. (where B and C are A's parents, D is A's sister, E,F, and G are his cousins, and H,I,J are his pets.)
A lives with his parents B and C, his sister D, his cousins E, F and G, and their pets H, I and J. (where B and C are A's parents, D is A's sister, E,F, and G are his cousins, and H,I,J are his pets.)
Top answer
I think what you have is good except that it is not very clear who "their" refers to. From your explanation it looks as if you may have intended to write "and his pets H, I and J".
- I think what you have is good except that it is not very clear who "their" refers to.
- From your explanation it looks as if you may have intended to write "and his pets H, I and J".
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6 Answers
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I think what you have is good except that it is not very clear who "their" refers to. From your explanation it looks as if you may have intended to write "and his pets H, I and J".
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I'm quite sure what I have, although legible, is incorrect. I've seen indications that sentences like this should include semicolons, Oxford commas etc. As far as the pets, I appreciate that their is unclear, but what if the pets are household pets?
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Semicolons are necessary in lists only when there is otherwise a risk of ambiguity. Apart from "their", there is no ambiguity in your sentence. Oxford commas (aka serial commas) are a style choice (provide they themselves do not introduce ambiguity) and not a question of "correct" and "incorrect". If the pets are household pets then you can say that. I think that is better than "their", which tend
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Thanks for your help GPY. One last thing, should there be commas separating the nouns from the names? (ie "...parents, B and C...). I know there should be a comma in a sentence like "His sister, Sally, ate everything." But in this list situation commas would just muddle things, wouldn't they?
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Right, in this case commas after the nouns would confuse everything and should not be used.
By the way, "His sister, Sally, ate everything" and "His sister Sally ate everything" are both valid but have slightly different interpretations. In his first case the name is given parenthetically (as additional non-essential information) and the implication is that he has only one sister, or only
By the way, "His sister, Sally, ate everything" and "His sister Sally ate everything" are both valid but have slightly different interpretations. In his first case the name is given parenthetically (as additional non-essential information) and the implication is that he has only one sister, or only
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