Using of AND!

[saloom2]

Hello everyone,

Actually, I'm a bit confused about And! I have been reading for a while and I have found recently that they use 'and' sometimes with a come before it and sometimes without a coma! So why do they do it?I've already searched in google, but I haven't found a precise answer.


Thanks in advance.

[bhaisahab]

Hello everyone,

Actually, I'm a bit confused about And! I have been reading for a while and I have found recently that they use 'and' sometimes with a come before it and sometimes without a coma! So why do they do it?I've already searched in google, but I haven't found a precise answer.


Thanks in advance.

It's mostly a matter of style.

[saloom2]

umm. SO writing both is right?

[Rover_KE]

You seem to mean comma — not come or coma.

I put comma before 'and' in the Google Custom Search box at the top of the page and found these previous answers to this question.

Rover

[saloom2]

I didn't find any useful information.

[Barb_D]

Do you mean this type of sentence:
I washed the dishes and he dried the dishes.
I washed the dishes, and he dried the dishes.

Or do you mean this type of sentence:
I put apples, bananas, grapes and strawberries in the fruit salad.
I put apples, bananas, grapes, and strawberries in the fruit salad.

The latter is called the serial or Oxford comma. Searching for either of those terms (serial comma, oxford comma) will yield many results.

[saloom2]

Well, I was asking about the former one. After searching in google, I comprehended the serial comma well. However, would you explain the first one and make it clearer? Is there any differnece?

[Tdol]

Punctuation is governed 2/3s by rule and 1/3 by personal taste. GV Carey

Discuss

[Barb_D]

Purists argue that two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction require a comma.

Practical writers say that if there is absolutely no clarity gained by adding punctuation, it serves no purpose. The longer the indepdent clauses, the more helpful the comma. In the "dishes" example above, zero additional clarity results from using the comma.

[5jj]

I talked to Mary, and Jane washed the dishes.

Here the comma prevents us reading it, on first reading, as I talked to Mary and Jane ...