Comma vs. semi colon question?

Well, I'm not a semi-colon lover, but I don't hate them.

As Clive says, there's really little sense of confusion using strictly commas. But if you wanted to practice using them correctly in a list, you could do it this way.

The house has a blue, shingled roof; a kitchen with sink, range and microwave; and a garage with a cement floor, plasterboard walls and electronic doors.

(Although I think you meant an electric garage door opener, and probably not electronic doors, unless it's Bill Gates's garage or something.)

Hi Bob,

I thought about talking about that other comma (the one before the "and") which is known as the Oxford comma or serial comma, but did not because people here already have a problem about talking about issues that were not part of the original question. If I were writing the sentence, I would have used b) because I use the serial comma. It's purely a matter of style, but the rule you MUST follow is to use it all the time, or don't use it, but not to mix the style.

If you had more commas, then you could use a semi-colon, but you are also getting close to when you might want to use a bulleted list, as shown below.

The house has:

• a blue, shingled room
• a kitchen with a sink, range, new dishwaher, microwave, convection oven, and new cabinets
• a garage with finished walls, an electric garage door opener, a painted cement floor, and plenty of storage
• a fully finished basement with acoustic tile ceiling, paneled walls, and telephone and cable connections.

Another way to use the semi-colon in a list is if the list is of people, when each has a title and a company. For example: The panelists will be Mary Smith, CEO, WordSmith Enterprises; Theresa Gonzales, owner, Flowers as You Like Them; Marie Francois, research chemist, Davis Petrochemicals; and Barbara Anderson, chief architect, Foley & Grissom.

Yes, if the items in the list do NOT contain commas themselves, then use commas to separate them. But if the items in the list DO have commas, then you can use semi-colons to separate them. And if they are very comples

The rule about not mixing has to do with the serial/Oxford comma - the one before the and. If you want to use it, use it all the time.

Hi,

Personally speaking, I don't much like to read sentences that really just consist of lengthy lists. One approach is to format it with bullet points, as GG suggests, or to use some similar manner of layout.

Another approach is simply to use more than one sentence.

The house has a blue, shingled roof. The kitchen is equipped with a sink, range, and microwave. The garage has a cement floor, plasterboard walls, and electronic doors.

For myself, I find it much easier to absorb this information when it is presented this way.

However, it's a matter of personal choice, of course.

Best wishes, Clive