[Grammar] The Oxford Comma

[FortOtt]

The Oxford Comma

With the Oxford Comma

We invited the women, JFK, and Stalin.

Without the Oxford Comma

We invited the women, JFK and Stalin.

Do I need a comma after brother in the following sentence?

It had been almost a year and a half since my mother took my sister, my brother and me to live with her parents in Fort Lauderdale after a major argument she had with my father.

If I don't put a comma after brother, doesn't it make it sound like my sister is my brother and me?

Thank you.

 

[Barb_D]

It defies all logic that "your brother and you" could be "your sister."

The original example is a poor one, since we all know JFK and Stalin are not women. However, if you said "those awful boys from our class, Jim and Steve" we might think Jim and Steve are the awful boys. Or if you said "We went with my sisters, Jane and Elizabeth" we might think Jane and Elizabeth are your sisters.

 

[SoothingDave]

The Oxford comma usually does no harm.

 

[Tdol]

If I don't put a comma after brother, doesn't it make it sound like my sister is my brother and me?

It doesn't sound like that to me, and I tend to use the Oxford comma.

 

[GoesStation]

There are times when the Oxford comma makes a list clearer.

 

[Skrej]

My favorite example of Oxford comma clarification:

 

[Barb_D]

I can think of zero instances when uses it causes confusion. I can think of many when its omission causes confusion. Hence, I use it almost all the time.

 

[Rover_KE]

My favorite example of Oxford comma clarification:

I cannot open that link, Skrej. Can you put it some other way?

 

[GoesStation]

I cannot open that link, Skrej. Can you put it some other way?

The link magically opened for me when I clicked "Like" on the post it first appeared in.

 

[konungursvia]

For me too, it's more honoured in the observance than the breach.

 

[Skrej]

I cannot open that link, Skrej. Can you put it some other way?

I thought I posted it as an image rather than a link. I've retried it as an uploaded image.

 

[FortOtt]

Would it be wrong though to put a comma after brother? Is this just a style issue?

It had been almost a year and a half since my mother took my sister, my brother and me to live with her parents in Fort Lauderdale after a major argument she had with my father.

 

[Barb_D]

It is not wrong. It is optional.
However, you should be consistent. If you use it there, you should use it in other similar sentences.

 

[Rover_KE]

I thought I posted it as an image rather than a link. I've retried it as an uploaded image.

:loling:

Excellent, Skrej.

 

[Tdol]

For me too, it's more honoured in the observance than the breach.

I don't get what its critics are on about.

 

[GoesStation]

The only sensible argument against the Oxford comma is that it takes up space in a newspaper column. I can support avoiding it where space is an issue, but never when its absence muddles a sentence.

 

[FortOtt]

What if I want to put a comma after me?

It had been almost a year and a half since my mother took my sister, my brother, and me, to live with her parents in Fort Lauderdale after a major argument she had with my father.

 

[GoesStation]

No, you should not put a comma after "me" in that sentence. The optional Oxford comma is the one after "brother."