If you're a grammar-nerd like myself, you probably hold a strong opinion about the proper use of commas in a series. But even if you aren't passionate about this particular punctuation, you still use commas in a series when you write, and you'll probably be teaching your children how to use them properly as well.
So what's "correct" and what's not? This great comma debate has gone on for years, and will probably continue for many years to come, but I thought I'd offer my opinion on the subject.
Two Schools of Thought: The Oxford Comma or Not
So here's the question. Is it correct to put a comma before the final item in a series like this? (The final comma is called the Oxford or serial comma):
My favorite foods are hot dogs, pizza, and hamburgers.
Or should that final comma be omitted like this?
My favorite foods are hot dogs, pizza and hamburgers.
Anti-Oxfords
Growing up, I was told I should never use the Oxford comma. My teachers taught me to omit it because each comma (supposedly) represented the word and.
Now there's just SO much wrong with this idea of a comma representing and, so please don't teach your children this. But at the time the notion made complete sense. After all, if the comma stands for the word and, then the following sentence:
My favorite foods are hot dogs, pizza and hamburgers.
…essentially meant this:
My favorite foods are hot dogs and pizza and hamburgers.
According to my teachers, adding an extra comma before the and preceding the final list item wasn't necessary, and in fact was blatantly incorrect because you'd be saying this:
My favorite foods are hot dogs and pizza and and hamburgers.
That made complete sense to an 8-year-old, and so I continued to omit the final commas in any series I wrote, thinking that was the "correct" way to do things.
Obviously my elementary school teachers were not the only people who preached against the Oxford comma. The rule for omitting the final comma in a series was — and still is — taught by many teachers today.
Comma omissions in a series are also common practice among journalists because they follow the AP Stylebook guidelines, which recommend leaving out the final comma in a series.
Pro-Oxfords
There are also a number of advocates for the Oxford comma. Proponents include E.B. White (author of the classic Elements of Style) and a large number of University English departments like Purdue University.
What I Teach My Own Children
Even though I was taught to omit the final comma in a series, I now include myself in the list of Oxford comma fans.
Why do I favor the Oxford comma now? Quite simply the Oxford comma prevents unintentional ambiguity of the meaning of a sentence.
Consider these examples below, where the final comma — the Oxford comma — is omitted.
Our realtor showed us a beach house that has French doors, a wooden patio with a built-in grill and a 4-car garage.
I reorganized my closet last week and moved my ruby red, orange floral, neon pink and pastel purple and blue plaid shirts to the back.
Did the beach house have a 4-car garage on the wooden patio? And exactly how many types of shirts did I move last week? Do I have shirts that are neon pink and pastel purple? Or pastel purple and blue plaid?
Sure, you could reread the sentence about the beach house and decipher the meaning. But due to the missing Oxford comma in the sentence about the shirts, it's impossible to determine the actual meaning of the sentence, even upon close scrutiny.
That omission of the final comma in the series makes the meaning of the sentences unclear. It's that simple. If you add the Oxford comma, the meaning of each sentence is instantly clarified.
Our realtor showed us a beach house that has French doors, a wooden patio with a built-in grill, and a 4-car garage.
I reorganized my closet last week and moved my ruby red, orange floral, neon pink, and pastel purple and blue plaid shirts to the back.
Why I Think the Oxford Comma is the Better Choice
I teach my children to use the Oxford comma for a couple of reason.
1. Clarification of Meaning: The goal of writing is to communicate a message clearly, so why muddy the waters by omitting the final comma in a series? Readers shouldn't have to reread a sentence to understand the meaning, and omitting the final comma simply leaves the door open for misunderstanding.
2. Preservation of Natural Reading Rhythm: The Oxford comma not only visually marks the boundaries of each item in the series, it also provides a pause in the rhythm of the words. When we read, we naturally pause at each comma and period, which helps us better understand the meaning. If that final comma in the series is omitted, we tend to run the last two items together, without pausing in between as we naturally would.
If you've always omitted the final comma in your own writing because you were taught that way was correct, I hope you'll reconsider. Remember that so-called punctuation rules should never get in the way of clearly communicating the meaning of our words.
So be a rebel. Do the Oxford.
In my journalism classes in college I was always taught to omit the Oxford comma. I've religiously omitted the comma for 10 years (and sometimes even looked down on people who used it because they didn't know the "right" way). Maybe I should reconsider. 🙂
Yes, for some reason (I'm still not sure why), the AP styleguide insists on leaving out that final comma. You'd THINK that clarity in meaning would be important to journalists, but apparently they prefer brevity, even to the detriment of meaning. So very strange in my opinion. I encourage you to reconsider! 🙂
Thank you for this post. Your position is cogent, well-reasoned, and well-said. (I just had to use an Oxford!) I have long been a proponent of the use of Oxford commas for the primary reason of clarity. English can be confusing enough without intentionally creating more confusion.
NICE. =)
I remember my high school teacher constantly circling my commas and telling me that I used too many. =) Maybe I did,.. but I always argued the point that a comma made a pause and I *wanted* a pause there. Maybe that applies to your statement that sometimes it's okay to break grammar rules for the sake of effect? I did eventually learn to use more than just the comma–the hyphen, the semicolon, and the the ellipses. (But maybe now I overuse all of them?) 😉
I think one good test for whether you overuse punctuation is to read your writing aloud. Pause slightly at each , ; or —, and if the pause is at an unnatural place, then yes, they're probably overused.
I was actually taught a combination. When it's a short list (your favorite food example) you don't need the oxford comma because the stuff in the list is a single word (more or less). When you have a list with more complicated items (the house or the shirts) then you use the comma. How's that for confusing?
What if I said my favorite foods were pizza, ham and eggs? Do I mean I like ham and eggs together or separately? Even simple lists can leave room for confusion, so I'd rather err on the side of clarity…but that's just me. And that's why I teach my kids to use the Oxford comma pretty much 100% of the time, even in short lists, simply to prevent any possibility of confusion, as well as to indicate the pauses in the proper places.
Thanks for this post. I teach my children to use the Oxford comma. Glad to see so many other's agree.
I actually learned the Oxford in grade school, circa early nineties. I have stuck with it because I have not heard a good, logical reason to leave it out.
At this point I don't remember what I was taught in school or college, but my DH is always pointing out my too many commas. The extra comma always made more sense and left out any confusion. I do remember being taught when typing to leave 2 spaces between sentences. Does anyone still do that besides me?
We actually talked about this on Facebook recently (the two spaces after a period). You might like to read the discussion. https://www.facebook.com/joyatfivejs/posts/264950296887870
Thank you for the link and discussion. I don't use facebook (I know my limitations), and did not see that. The explanation makes sense, but like many of the commentators, this is one habit hard to change. But I am slowly making the change as I do all my typing on a computer now. Thank you for the topics and discussions here in email land too. Blessings to you and your family this coming week.
You crack me up! I have been doing "what I've been told" for many a year now and had never even HEARD of an Oxford comma! Thank you for educating me in this matter! 😉 There IS room for confusion without it (good example of ham and eggs), but I'm probably too much of a conformist to risk using it and people assuming I just don't know what I'm doing…. hah!! (Your next post should be on the problems associated with lack of individuality and the obsessive need to have people think well of you….)
I have to agree!!
I thought everyone educated used the Oxford comma until I read about this extremely divisive topic in the book Eat, Shoots & Leaves. 🙂
It's a hilarious read and I didn't realize I was a grammar/punctuation snob until I read it. (However, please note that almost all of my current blogging seems to contain grammar and punctuation errors – so I've been humbled!!)
You are my hero. This is one of my most frequent arguments.