Which sentence is correct?
B) I ate a pear, apple, peach, and plum today.
Favorite Answer
If you’re only asking about punctuation, both are acceptable, but I prefer the second because you can have a complex series like:
“The sandwiches we sell include ham and swiss, turkey and gouda, peanut butter and jelly, and cucumber and hummous.”
The meaning of this sentence is clearer than the alternative (equivalent to A):
“The sandwiches we sell include ham and swiss, turkey and gouda, peanut butter and jelly and cucumber and hummous.”
Now, of course, mine is a principled position, and principles don’t always play a role in language use.
I was taught this example.
1) Jim, Fred and Sally split the 7 million dollars left to them by Aunt Millie.
2) Jim, Fred, and Sally split the 7 million dollars left to them by Aunt Millie.
In statement 1, it can (and has been) argued that the 7 million dollars be split two ways ~ half for Jim, the other half shared between Fred and Sally. The comma indicates two groups.
In statement 2, it can (and has been) argued that the 7 million dollars be split three ways ~ a third to each because of the comma placement.
Hope this helped!
At one time the texts said no comma between the last word in the series and the and.
Most modern texts will tell you to use a comma before the and.
If you instructor is “old school” she/he probably will tell you to omit the comma, if “new school” will most likely tell you you need the comma.
You will occasionaly see a comma before ‘and’ but it is usually in more complex sentences to aid understanding, and is not technically correct.
