A few weeks ago I mentioned in this space that serial commas, also called Oxford commas, are a matter of style. So either "red, white and blue" or "red, white, and blue" can be correct depending on ...

Here’s an interesting question posed to me recently: Which of the following sentences is punctuated correctly? Look for fresh basil at your local grocery store, and, if it isn’t available, tell the ...

When you're writing or typing and begin to list items in consecutive order, do you add a comma prior to the conjunction before the final item? Or not? The inclusion of that final comma is a great ...

Comma mistakes happen all the time, but serious comma mistakes — errors that change your meaning or mislead your reader — are rare. It seems like every day I see a comma placed after a quotation mark, ...

Punctuation is a set of specific marks or symbols that we used to express the meaning of our sentences clearly and to make the flow of the text smooth. It shows us where we need to pause, it separates ...

What punctuation, if any, would you add to the following sentence? Exiting your host's bathroom after half an hour and saying "Don't worry; I fixed your toilet" is not an example of excellent ...

I get asked every so often what all the hullabaloo is about the Oxford comma, also known as the serial or Harvard comma. I not only use it but am an adamant supporter. Why? First, let’s look at what ...

A Twitter report that Oxford has changed its comma rule left some punctuation obsessives alarmed, annoyed, and distraught. Passions subsided as the university said the news was imprecise, incomplete ...

TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. About the Archive This is a digitized version of an article from The Times’s print archive, before the start of online ...