Brooklyn College



Comma Before AndBASICSWhether or not you put a comma before and depends on how you’re using and. There’s no single rule that applies to all situations. You usually put a comma before and when it’s connecting two independent clauses. It’s almost always optional to put a comma before and in a ma Before And in ListsA lot of people have strong feelings about putting a comma before and in a list. Exactly why this particular quirk of comma usage stirs such passions is hard to say; it’s just one of those things. If you’ve ever heard someone arguing about serial commas or Oxford commas, this is what they were talking about.Let’s say your dog has so many great qualities that you just have to tell the world. When you list your dog’s qualities, you have to use a comma after each quality you list except the one that comes immediately before and. That comma is optional.Correct The dog is young, well trained, and good natured.CorrectThe dog is young, well trained and good natured.The sentence is correct with or without the comma before and. (There are a few exceptions that require you to use the Oxford comma in a list, but they are pretty rare.) Just be consistent. Don’t switch back and forth in the same document between using the Oxford comma and not using it.By the way, this rule only applies to lists of three or more items. You should not use a comma before and if you’re only mentioning two qualities.IncorrectThe dog is well trained, and good natured.CorrectThe dog is well trained and good natured.This is true for proper names, ordinary nouns, verbs, or anything else.IncorrectSam, and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.CorrectSam and Sarah take excellent care of their pets.IncorrectThe dog barks, and plays.CorrectThe dog barks and ma Before And That Joins Two Independent ClausesThe word and is a conjunction, and when a conjunction joins two independent clauses, you should use a comma with it. The proper place for the comma is before the conjunction.Correct On Monday we’ll see the Eiffel Tower , and on Tuesday we’ll visit the Louvre .The sentence above contains two independent clauses, so it requires a comma before and. (By the way, you can tell they’re independent clauses because each one could stand on its own as a complete sentence.)Here’s a tip: Remember, when you’re joining two independent clauses, you need both a comma and a conjunction. If you use a comma without a conjunction, you’ll end up with a comma splice.Let’s look at another example.CorrectIt’s cold outside, and I can’t find my coat.Once again, we have two independent clauses: It’s cold outside plus I can’t find my coat. Therefore, we need a comma before and.Don’t use a comma before and when one of the clauses it’s connecting is a dependent clause.IncorrectSam tossed the ball , and watched the dog chase it .The first clause, Sam tossed the ball could stand on its own as a complete sentence, which means it’s an independent clause. But the second clause, watched the dog chase it, can’t stand by itself as a complete sentence. That means it’s a dependent clause, so we should not use a comma before and.Correct Sam tossed the ball and watched the dog chase it.ExceptionsBut wait! There’s an exception. (Isn’t there always?) When you have two independent clauses joined together by and, most style guides say that it’s OK to leave the comma out as long as the two independent clauses are very short and closely connected. Here’s an example:Correct Arthur cooked and Melvin cleaned.It’s not wrong to add a comma before and in the sentence above, but doing so might make the sentence a little choppy. ................
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