COMMAS, PART ONE: LISTS

What is a List?

In grammar, a list occurs whenever you have a group of similar items together.

List items can be either simple (a list of single words, usually nouns or adjectives), or complex (a list of clauses).

The Rule

The rule for punctuating a list is that you place a comma after every item except for the last two; between the last two you use the word “and”.

How to apply the rule

Let’s look at some examples. We’ll start with the most simple kind of list, a list of nouns.

(1) simple lists of things

cats dogs horses

Here there are three items in the list. We place a comma after every item except the last two. As there are only three items altogether, this means just one comma, after “cats”. Then, we place “and” between the last two items.

Cats, dogs and horses.

(2) slightly more complex lists

The list can become more complex when some of the nouns have adjectives attached. However, the principle is the same. Here is a list of items, two of which are nouns with some other words attached (“nominal clauses”) and one is just a simple noun. Because they are all nominal items (each item is either a noun or a nominal clause), it is the nouns that identify the items.

blue jeans a black turtleneck sweater and sneakers

the three items are the jeans, the sweater and the sneakers. We already have an “and” correctly placed between the sweater and the sneakers. As there are three items in the list, we know that we need to place one comma. This will go after the jeans, as this is the first item in the list.

blue jeans, a black turtleneck sweater and sneakers

Here’s another example:

a flowered robe ear muffs pink rubber boots

Remember that you place “and” between the last two items and commas after every item except the last two. So we get:

a flowered robe, ear muffs and pink rubber boots

Try it yourself on this list:

barking dogs screaming kids and overflying aircraft

(3) – Lists of adjectives.

A list can also be a list of adjectives, either alone or attached to a noun. Consider this example:

long black curly hair

Now, because we have a list of adjectives attached to a noun, the rule is slightly different; we don’t use “and” where the list terminates with a noun. We just place commas, but in this case we place them after every item except the last.

Long, black, curly hair

If instead of using the noun at the end, the sentence went like this: “her hair was…..” then the regular rule would apply, because the list is standing by itself. So once again, it is “and” between the last two items and commas after every item except the last two:

Her hair was long, black and curly.

Try these ones for practice:

a foul-mouthed ugly moron

this whole high-ridged ponderous pleasantly-turning world

(4) Lists of complex items.

Complex lists are lists where each item is a clause rather than a single thing. For example:

Fiona discovered her husband was unfaithful decided to murder him and bought a chip fryer

When you look at this sentence, you will notice that Fiona did three things.
1. she discovered her husband was unfaithful

2. she decided to murder him

3. she bought a chip fryer.

These are your list items. Now, we already have “and” correctly placed between the last two items. A comma has to go after every item except the last two. So, as there are three items, this means just one comma, placed after the first item:

Fiona discovered her husband was unfaithful, decided to murder him and bought a chip fryer.

Try this one yourself for practice:

He walked over to the mailbox sniffed it lifted his leg.