Commas (in lists)

Commas in lists

Commas are required between items in lists (of three or more things). You need commas between verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, whenever three or more occur in a list, e.g.

I like to sing, dance, and play piano.
The dog was small, fluffy, and had muddy paws.
Mary, Sally, and Gloria were going to the beach that day.

Note: You are encouraged to use the Oxford comma (‘serial comma’) because it is the simplest way of reducing the possibility of ambiguity. It is when you have a comma between the final two items in a list of more than three things (and it comes before the conjunction), e.g.

The crocodile was mean, green, and lean
He had sharp teeth, claws, and eyes.

Additional information:

There are three main conditions for using commas: to separate items in a list; after signal verbs and before dialogue/quotations; and to ‘set apart’ parenthetical elements, including to set apart subordinate clauses that begin sentences, after introductory elements, and before tag questions.

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