Oxford University Press and Harvard University Press famously encourage the serial comma, and it is from these style guides that the terms “Oxford comma” and “Harvard comma” evolved.
Is Oxford comma grammatically correct?
Are Oxford commas grammatically correct? Contrary to what most students believe, the Oxford comma isn’t grammatically correct. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to use it. Instead, it’s grammatically optional.
Does Oxford English use serial comma?
What is the Oxford comma? In a list of three or more items, the last comma is called the Oxford comma (or the serial comma). For example, in He bought eggs, milk, and bread, there’s a comma between each item listed. The comma before and is the Oxford comma.
How are commas used in Oxford?
The Oxford (or serial) comma is the final comma in a list of things. For example: Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook. The Oxford comma comes right after eraser.
Is it Oxford comma or Harvard comma?
An Oxford comma is sometimes called a series comma, Harvard comma, or final comma in American English and is a comma placed before the last item in a list. It’s the last comma in a series of commas before the end of a list, and its use is highly contentious among writers and editorial publications.
Why are people against Oxford comma?
Many opponents of the Oxford comma claim that it makes a piece of writing sound more pretentious and stuffy, and that it can make things seem cluttered and redundant. Many magazine publishers renounce its use as well, because sentences loaded with commas take up valuable page space.
Why is the Oxford comma controversial?
This practice is controversial and is known as the serial comma or Oxford comma, because it is part of the house style of Oxford University Press.” There are cases in which the use of the serial comma can avoid ambiguity, and also instances in which its use can introduce ambiguity.
What is the difference between Oxford and serial comma?
What’s in a Name? Its generic name is the serial (or series) comma, but many people know it by a fancier name: Oxford comma. The serial comma is the one before and, or, or nor at the end of a series of three or more items.
Why is the Oxford comma called the Oxford comma?
The Oxford comma is the final comma that comes before the conjunction in a list of three or more items. Its name comes from the Oxford University Press (OUP), where for over a century it has been standard in the Oxford Style Manual.
Does the New York Times use the Oxford comma?
It is much more widespread in the United States, although American news organizations tend to leave the second comma out (that includes The New York Times, whose style guide advises that it should not be used unless a sentence is otherwise confusing without it).
Is the Oxford comma unprofessional?
While the Oxford comma is technically grammatically correct, it is most often unnecessary and pointless. Thus, writers and editors should eliminate the comma unless it is absolutely essential for comprehension.
What is Oxford style writing?
Oxford is a citation style that uses footnotes at the bottom of the page rather than in the in-text citation styles used by Harvard and A.P.A. In the Oxford style a superscript number is inserted at the point in your essay where you cite an author’s work. It sits slightly above the line of text.
Does Cambridge use the Oxford comma?
In its own text, the guide by Cambridge omits serial commas; Oxford’s retains them. So for British English, use serial commas or omit them, but do so consistently. And if you go without, make sure to add a comma wherever its absence might create ambiguity.
What is the Yale comma?
In compound sentences. A comma is used before “and” when it separates two independent clauses (in the structure called a compound sentence): Yale had grown considerably by 1900, and the Law School had become known in its own right.
Do lawyers like the Oxford comma?
Use of the Oxford comma is mostly a matter of preference and varies by region and profession. Lawyers should use the Oxford comma to help avoid ambiguity. Three ambiguities may arise without this comma: Whether the two final items in a list are one combined element or separate.
Is Oxford comma pretentious?
The use of the Oxford comma, many people argue, is overly pedantic, and in some situations, its use can sound pompous and hypercorrect. It is usually perfectly possible to discern the meaning of a sentence without it.
Who still uses the Oxford comma?
AP Style writing requires the use of the Oxford Comma. Someone who would typically write in AP style is a newspaper reporter. The Oxford Comma is the final comma in a list of three or more things in a sentence, which goes before the “and” or “or” in a sentence.
What is the Chicago comma?
The most important is that Chicago “strongly recommends” using a serial (or Oxford) comma for lists of three or more items. This means adding a comma before the final conjunction to prevent ambiguity: No Serial Comma: She invited her parents, the headteacher and the janitor.
What is another name for the Oxford comma?
The Oxford comma, also called the serial comma or Harvard comma, is a much-debated piece of punctuation that occurs just before a coordinating conjunction in a series of three or more items.
Does Chicago style use Oxford comma?
Oxford style is usually associated with the “Oxford comma”—the comma before the conjunction in a series of three or more (like the one before “and” in “apples, oranges, and pears”). But this comma has also always been Chicago style.
Does London England need a comma?
Commas with Names of Places
A comma should be used between the name of a city and state/nation. Let’s look at the following examples: They will be traveling to a conference in Denver, Colorado. We want to start construction in London, England.