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Old 06-Feb-2007, 21:09
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Default Is it proper to use a comma before the word and?

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, I am not an english major which is one of the reasons I am here.

I am 50 years old and for many, many years I would not use a comma before the word "and". I believe I was taught this in school.

Consider the following statement as an example.
"I would like Alice, Tom, Dick and Harry to move to the back of the room."

However, I am finding it increasingly common for many writers to place a comma after the name Dick and before the word "and".

I suppose things could have changed over the years; have they changed or have I been in error all of these years?

Incidently, if you were to plug the sentence with or without the comma in Microsoft Word, no error is flagged.

Any comments?


Last edited by word; 06-Feb-2007 at 21:11. Reason: used wrong word
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