Liveinjapan  +  957960 Sat, 31 Oct 09 10:47 AM I know there is no need to put 'and' before 'B', but does this rule work when A, B and C are sentences of similar structure? e.g. Your father is smart, your mother is smart, and therefore you are smart. (no need to put 'and' before 'your mother'?) It is no longer a comma splice, is it? Thanks. Liveinjapan Joined on Sun, Feb 4 2007 Osaka, Japan Senior Member 2,280 Please feel free to correct any words I wrote.LiJ Commas, Punctuation, Sentences

	Old Man Gordon  +  957965 Sat, 31 Oct 09 11:02 AM It's a good question.  Initially, I thought it was still a comma splice, but now I'll have to consult my reference books or wait for a good reply.     Old Man Gordon Joined on Fri, Mar 16 2007 Full Member 410 Commas, Punctuation, References, Business, Career

	abc4efg  +  958030 Sat, 31 Oct 09 12:54 PM When you construct a list, such as A, B, and C, you choose the elements for your list from those in the same category, so that you can exchange their positions in the list, such as B, C, and A, without hurting the meaning.   In your case, the first two clauses, your father is smart and your mother is smart, are in the same category because they are both the parents and you can exchange their positions in the list. But you cannot change the position of the third clause in your list because it (the child is smart) is a result of the fact from the first two clauses (the parents are smart). So, your construction is really not a list, and I guess you need to treat it as a non-list, a reason-result relation: your father is smart and your mother is smart, therefore you are smart. abc4efg Joined on Thu, Oct 8 2009 New Member 04 Constructions, Clauses, Writing

	Liveinjapan  +  958495 Sun, 01 Nov 09 01:01 AM Thanks, Gordon and Abc4efg. I agree with both of you. I actually thought it was a comma splice initially, and perhaps I would avoid leaving out the first 'and'. Liveinjapan Commas, Punctuation

	Grammar Geek  +  958529 Sun, 01 Nov 09 02:05 AM The original is fine.   abc4efg “your father is smart and your mother is smart, therefore you are smart.”   This is a comma splice.     Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,660 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Liveinjapan  +  958540 Sun, 01 Nov 09 02:34 AM Grammar Geek “The original is fine.” By 'the original' you mean 'Your father is smart, your mother is smart, and therefore you are smart.', right? Thanks, Barb. Liveinjapan

	Grammar Geek  +  958941 Sun, 01 Nov 09 02:25 PM Yes, exactly.   What's more important is parallelism.   X is X1, Y is Y1, and (therefore, by the way, if you care, it seems that  -- all optional), Z is Z1.   What wouldn't work from a style standpoint (for me) is: Mom is watching football, Dad is doing the dishes, and Peter is happy. In that case, the Peter part isn't parallel with the others.   Grammar Geek

	Liveinjapan  +  958962 Sun, 01 Nov 09 02:53 PM Grammar Geek “parallelism” Great! I understand! Thanks, Barb. Liveinjapan

	abc4efg  +  959841 Mon, 02 Nov 09 01:29 PM Grammar Geek “The original is fine.   abc4efg “your father is smart and your mother is smart, therefore you are smart.”   This is a comma splice.   ”     To remove it, a semicolon or the coordinating conjuction so is needed. Thank you, Greek! abc4efg Commas, Punctuation, Semicolons