"John, David, and I" OR "John, David and I"

Share on Facebook

Ouc

#313078 Tue, 09 Jan 07 03:23 PM

When I reply a party invitation, I often use the following:

1) John, David, and I will be there.
2) John, David and I will be there.

I saw both very often. Which one is right? Please help.

In William Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946). The Elements of Style. 1918.
In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last.

Thus write,

red, white, and blue

honest, energetic, but headstrong

He opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents.

This is also the usage of the Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press.

Ouc

Joined on Mon, Jan 1 2007

New Member (09)

Commas, Universities, Invitations

pieanne

#313079 Tue, 09 Jan 07 03:26 PM

I personally would use the two commas ...

pieanne

Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005

South of France ...But I'm Belgian!

Veteran Member (7,512)

I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

Commas

Dawnstorm

#313084 Tue, 09 Jan 07 03:48 PM

Both are correct. American English favours the comma; I'm not sure if British English has a preference.

There are sentences, where the comma before the "and" is essential, even if you favour leaving it out.

Listing book-titles: Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, and Oliver Twist. (That would be an interesting book: "Romeo and Juliet and Oliver Twist" hehe...)

Then, there are cases, where leaving out the comma before the and causes ambiguity. I like the example given by the Oxford Dictionary of English:

Wrong: "I would like to thank my parents, Anne Smith and God." (it's: "I would like to thank my parents, Anne Smith, and God." - otherwise Anne Smith and God would be your parents.)

So, if you're already leaving out the comma before the "and" by default, there's no reason to change that (but be aware of ambiguities). If you're just learning English, though, it may be easier to make the comma before the and, as you're less likely to produce confusing sentences.

Dawnstorm

Joined on Fri, Dec 15 2006

New Member (42)

American English, British English, Commas, Learning English

Philip

#313103 Tue, 09 Jan 07 04:23 PM

Dawnstorm wrote:
Both are correct. American English favours the comma; I'm not sure if British English has a preference.

There are sentences, where the comma before the "and" is essential, even if you favour leaving it out.

Listing book-titles: Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, and Oliver Twist. (That would be an interesting book: "Romeo and Juliet and Oliver Twist" hehe...)

Then, there are cases, where leaving out the comma before the and causes ambiguity. I like the example given by the Oxford Dictionary of English:

Wrong: "I would like to thank my parents, Anne Smith and God." (it's: "I would like to thank my parents, Anne Smith, and God." - otherwise Anne Smith and God would be your parents.)

So, if you're already leaving out the comma before the "and" by default, there's no reason to change that (but be aware of ambiguities). If you're just learning English, though, it may be easier to make the comma before the and, as you're less likely to produce confusing sentences.

I'm not sure how wide-spread it still is, but the comma before the 'and' is officially known as the Oxford comma (I suppose the reason is obvious). Reminds one of Lynne Truss' delightful Eats Shoots and Leaves, reading I would recommend on both sides of the Atlantic.

Philip

Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005

USA Pacific Northwest (Seattle)

Veteran Member (6,181)

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

American English, British English, Commas, Learning English

Yoong Liat

#313110 Tue, 09 Jan 07 04:54 PM

(1) John, David, and I will be there.
(2) John, David and I will be there.

I have been taught that in AmE, the comma is used before 'and' as in the example above.

In BrE, no comma is needed. And this is also what English usage books say.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,006)

Yoong Liat

Commas

Dawnstorm

#313135 Tue, 09 Jan 07 06:23 PM

Philip wrote:
I'm not sure how wide-spread it still is, but the comma before the 'and' is officially known as the Oxford comma (I suppose the reason is obvious). Reminds one of Lynne Truss' delightful Eats Shoots and Leaves, reading I would recommend on both sides of the Atlantic.

Typing "Oxford Comma" into google yields interesting articles. Thanks.

Is the book called "Eats Shoots and Leaves" or "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"? Wink [;)]

Dawnstorm

Articles, Commas

MrPedantic

#313246 Tue, 09 Jan 07 11:43 PM

Oxford comma

It's also known as the "serial comma".

In ordinary BrE usage (e.g. company documentation, government publications, newspapers), you rarely see the Oxford comma, unless there's a possibility of confusion.

It may turn up in publications from some university presses, however.

The same is true of -ise/-ize endings in BrE: -ise is favoured in ordinary usage, but -ize is preferred by some publishing houses, except in cases such as "advertise", "improvise", etc.

Both the Oxford comma and -ize endings were predominant in BrE publications till c.1950.

MrP

MrPedantic

Joined on Wed, Oct 13 2004

Veteran Member (12,053)

...opella forensis / adducit febris...

Commas, Universities

Philip

#313256 Wed, 10 Jan 07 12:23 AM

Dawnstorm wrote:
Philip wrote:
I'm not sure how wide-spread it still is, but the comma before the 'and' is officially known as the Oxford comma (I suppose the reason is obvious). Reminds one of Lynne Truss' delightful Eats Shoots and Leaves, reading I would recommend on both sides of the Atlantic.

Typing "Oxford Comma" into google yields interesting articles. Thanks.

Is the book called "Eats Shoots and Leaves" or "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"?

Without the comma: the clever cover illustration has one panda walking away with a pistol in hand and another panda on a ladder whiting out the comma after "eats".