Comma for series of 3 with conjunction?

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John H

#341916 Thu, 22 Mar 07 04:57 AM

Trying to figure this out for a book I wrote...

"The colors of the house are red, white and blue."
"The colors of the house are red, white, and blue."

If you have a conjunction before the last of a series, should you have a comma before the conjunction? I keep seeing it both ways. The first way seems proper.

John H

Joined on Sun, Aug 20 2006

New Member (11)

Commas

Yoong Liat

#341930 Thu, 22 Mar 07 05:39 AM

John H wrote:
Trying to figure this out for a book I wrote...

"The colors of the house are red, white and blue."
"The colors of the house are red, white, and blue."

The comma is not necessary, but it's not wrong to leave it there.

I learnt at school that in BrE, a comma is not needed, while in AmE, it is required.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,149)

Yoong Liat

Commas

John H

#342099 Thu, 22 Mar 07 03:24 PM

Thank you for the reply.

Hm,, I am guessing you are meaning basic reading english and american english?

So, if anyone could tell me, for the purposes of a published novel, which should I do?

John H

American English, Commas

Yoong Liat

#342105 Thu, 22 Mar 07 03:45 PM

John H wrote:
Thank you for the reply.

Hm,, I am guessing you are meaning basic reading english and american english?

So, if anyone could tell me, for the purposes of a published novel, which should I do?

I'm certain for BrE, you can remove the comma. As for AmE, I wonder whether the current practice is to drop the comma. If I remember correctly, I've read that the Americans prefer to have the comma in the sentence.

I think it's best for a native speaker of AmE to confirm which is the current practice.

Yoong Liat

American English, Commas

Philip

#342113 Thu, 22 Mar 07 03:59 PM

John H wrote:
Trying to figure this out for a book I wrote...

"The colors of the house are red, white and blue."
"The colors of the house are red, white, and blue."

If you have a conjunction before the last of a series, should you have a comma before the conjunction? I keep seeing it both ways. The first way seems proper.

That last serial comma is known as the "Oxford/Harvard comma". See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma

Because I tend to identify the serial comma with the word "and", I do not use it unless there is ambiguity caused without it.

Philip

Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005

USA Pacific Northwest (Seattle)

Veteran Member (6,491)

At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen

Commas

Yoong Liat

#342135 Thu, 22 Mar 07 04:33 PM

Hi Philip

Thanks for your reply. It has cleared the doubt.

Yoong Liat

Commas

John H

#342175 Thu, 22 Mar 07 06:03 PM

Thanks for reply.

I mean, I look at pages like the following, and it seems I need the comma. However, it really strikes me as overkill and excessive.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commaproof.html

John H

Grammar, Commas

Philip

#342680 Sat, 24 Mar 07 02:01 AM

John H wrote:
Thanks for reply.

I mean, I look at pages like the following, and it seems I need the comma. However, it really strikes me as overkill and excessive.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commaproof.html

From what has been posted here, it is obviously your choice. Just be sure you know why you use it or not, and be consistent.

Philip

Grammar, Commas