Comments for English Grammar Software http://www.englishgrammarsoft.com English Grammar and Writing Software Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:29:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on The Top 5 English Writing Mistakes by Bryan Holmes http://www.englishgrammarsoft.com/2009/11/the-top-5-english-writing-mistakes/comment-page-1/#comment-238 Bryan Holmes Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:29:05 +0000 http://www.englishgrammarsoft.com/?p=95#comment-238 I appreciate this website and your insight--thank you. But, this article states the following: "Commas are to be used to separate the various components of the list but it should not be placed before the conjunction in a series." I do not believe this statement is correct. A writer may use a comma before the contraction ending a series separated by commas. While a writer may omit this comma and still straddle grammar rules, a majority of reference manuals I have read prefer using a comma preceding the conjunction in a series. Strunk & White: William Strunk Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth edition, published by Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights, Massachusetts, 2000, I appreciate this website and your insight–thank you. But, this article states the following: “Commas are to be used to separate the various components of the list but it should not be placed before the conjunction in a series.” I do not believe this statement is correct.

A writer may use a comma before the contraction ending a series separated by commas. While a writer may omit this comma and still straddle grammar rules, a majority of reference manuals I have read prefer using a comma preceding the conjunction in a series.

Strunk & White: William Strunk Jr., and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, fourth edition, published by Allyn and Bacon, Needham Heights, Massachusetts, 2000,

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