Am 10.04.2011 06:04, schrieb Jonathan M Davis: >> Am 10.04.2011 04:27, schrieb dsimcha: >>> On 4/9/2011 10:22 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote: >>>> On 04/09/2011 08:31 PM, dsimcha wrote: >>>>> On 4/9/2011 7:56 PM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote: >>>>>> I think the article's title is missing a comma btw. >>>>>> >>>>>> Andrei >>>>> >>>>> Where? >>>> >>>> Where could it ever be? After "parallelism". >>>> >>>> Andrei >>> >>> Actually, I specifically remember learning about this grammar rule in >>> middle school. When listing stuff, the comma before the "and" is >>> optional. Putting it and not putting it are both correct. >> >> Having both "and" and the comma seems redundant to me. >> >> But I'm German and we don't have a comma before and ("und") in lists* so >> maybe I'm just not used to it. >> >> Cheers, >> - Daniel >> >> * an Exception is when a subordinate clause ends before the "and", like >> in "I know programming languages like C, D, which kicks ass, and Java" > > I'm sure that the wikipedia article goes into a fair bit of detail on it, but > there are cases where the lack of the comma leads to ambiguity. I believe > that > the current recommendation is to always put the comma in, but it's bound to > depend on who you talk to - even among English teachers. > > - Jonathan M Davis
You can always have ambiguities, e.g. "I know programming languages like C, D, my favorite, Java and Haskell" - does "my favorite" belong to the list or does it describe D? And shouldn't there be two commas after "favorite" (for me this kind of feels like a missing closing bracket)? Or, a slightly altered version of a wikipedia example: "Among those interviewed were his three ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson, Horst Hacker and Robert Duvall." - are Kris, Horst and Robert his ex-wives (same problem like in the original wikipedia example)? Alternative version: "Among those interviewed were his three ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson, Horst Hacker, and Robert Duvall." - not better at all: It's not clear whether "Kris Kristofferson, Horst Hacker, and Robert Duvall" is a list of ex-wives (it's a list, so we put a comma before the and etc) or if "his three ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson, Horst Hacker, and Robert Duvall." is a list of six people. So I think a comma before "and" doesn't help very much in solving ambiguities. Cheers, - Daniel