On Thu, 16 Aug 2007, Neil Williams wrote: > Depending on context, yes. In a list where all items are the same > level, a comma before 'and' is poor grammar, albeit not necessarily > 'wrong':
This is actually rather debatable. In most cases where it doesn't matter, the comma is optional. However, if you absolutely must ensure that oranges and lemons are considered separately instead of part of the same group, you should use a comma. In your final example, deleting vegetables (which should generally be allowed) yields: My bag contains juicy apples, pears and oranges. or in a case where it actually matters: My money is to be equally split between Jack, John, Jill and Bob. Is that split four ways or three? The comma makes it clear. [The degree of wrongness of either use or non-use of the comma following the penultimate item in a list of three or more depends on which camp you belong to; FWICT modern usage is tending towards using it.] Don Armstrong -- The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair. -- Douglas Adams _Mostly Harmless_ http://www.donarmstrong.com http://rzlab.ucr.edu -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
