How Do You Use Serial Commas In Sentences?
A serial comma is a comma that separates the last two items in a list, appearing before the “and” or the “or” in the list. Though not all styles of writing use the serial comma, it’s standard in academic writing. It can also help you better clarify your meaning of list items including “and” or “or.” Insert a comma before “and” or “or” whenever you include a list of three or more items in your writing, unless the style rules you’re following explicitly state that you shouldn’t. This is the basic rule of the serial comma. Use care with the serial comma when you have more complex lists or lists that readers can easily misunderstand. For example, the meaning of this apocryphal dedication changes depending on where you place the serial comma: “To my parents, Ayn Rand and God.” Without the serial comma before “and,” it sounds like the writer may be saying that Ayn Rand and God are her parents. Leave out the serial comma if you only have two items in a list. A serial comma only belongs in a l
