The Oxford comma isn’t perfect then, but I’m still a fan of it. Today I met a writer, a teacher, and my friend.

The best option is to move my friend to the end of sentence: In this case, then, the Oxford comma isn’t enough to make our exact meaning clear. Things are a littler clearer now, but that sentence might still be interpreted as no.2 above. Today I met my friend, a writer, and a teacher. Let’s pull out our Oxford comma and clear things up: Let’s imagine that the third option is what I meant. Today I met my friend, I met a writer, and I met a teacher: three different individuals.Today I met my friend, who is a writer, and I also met a teacher.Today I met my friend, who is both a writer and a teacher.Today I met my friend, a writer and a teacher. Yet, it’s important to be aware that the Oxford comma isn’t all powerful, and there are some cases in which sentences will be ambiguous with or without it. So using the Oxford comma in writing means that we pause just as we would when reciting every item in a list. Generally when we see a comma while we read, we mentally pause as we would when speaking. In a more general sense, using the Oxford comma replicates the patterns of spoken English. If they come together, the Oxford comma is less helpful, but using it and placing bacon and eggs before the end of the list makes it clear:īreakfast options are: pancakes, bacon and eggs, and cereal. For example:īreakfast options are: pancakes, cereal, bacon and eggs.Īre the bacon and eggs separate or do they come together? If they’re separate items, the Oxford comma will make that clear:īreakfast options are: pancakes, cereal, bacon, and eggs. More generally, it can avoid ambiguity when two words in a list could be joined together as one item, or could be separate items. Why use it? As we see above, it can resolve ambiguity in cases where the first item in a list might seem like it’s referring to the second and third items.

Some style guides recommend its use, some suggest avoiding it, and others don’t mention it at all. There’s quite a bit of debate about whether or not to use the Oxford comma, and it has its strong supporters as well as determined detractors. A comma like this, before the last item in a list of three or more items, is known as the Oxford comma, as it’s an element of the house style of Oxford University Press. Still, just to be sure my meaning is clear, I can use the first sentence, with the comma between Stephen Fry and Miley Cyrus. Do I mean that I follow my friends on Twitter, in addition to the celebrities Stephen Fry and Miley Cyrus? Or do I mean to say that Stephen Fry and Miley Cyrus are my friends, and I follow them on Twitter? The latter would probably make for some interesting dinner-party conversations, but that’s probably not what I meant, is it? On Twitter I’m following my friends, Stephen Fry and Miley Cyrus. On Twitter I’m following my friends, Stephen Fry, and Miley Cyrus. You probably don’t see any difference between the above pair of sentences. I’ve visited France, Germany, and Spain this year. I’ve visited France, Germany and Spain this year.

General thoughts on oxford comma