(Why the Oxford Comma—or Serial Comma—Is So Cool!)

The comma punctuation mark highlights a shorter, softer pause in a sentence than a full stop. It is a cue to take a quick breath when reading anything aloud, while the full stop represents a longer pause. Articles with too many unnecessary commas can be fragmented, but those with too few can leave you slightly breathless. These are some of the most important comma usage rules to be aware of for your articles or books.

Coordinate Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions are joiner words that connect two independent clauses in single sentences. And, but, for, nor, yet, or, and so (remember the FANBOYS acronym) are the coordinate conjunctions with which we can join independent clauses that could otherwise stand alone in separate sentences. You should always add a comma after coordinate conjunctions that join two independent clauses in sentences. Here are some examples of coordinate conjunction comma usage:

• “The sprinter ran fast, but he still lost the race.”
• “You can go to the cinema with me, or you can go to the beach on your own if you prefer.”
• “The man walked down the street, and then he brought a newspaper from the newsstand.”

Each of those examples includes two independent clauses that could stand alone as sentences. The coordinate conjunctions and, or, and but join the clauses into single sentences with their commas. Note that joining independent clauses with commas alone, without suitable coordinate conjunctions, is called the comma splice, which is something to avoid.

List Series

You should always include commas to separate different items in lists included within sentences. For example, orange, yellow, blue, indigo, violet, red, and green are the seven colors of the rainbow. An alternative to using commas is to add lists with bullet-point formatting, but you must always use commas for those within sentences.

However, UK and US English have different stylistic preferences for serial commas that separate the last two items in lists. The US English preference is to include a comma between the last two items in a list. This is not so much the case in UK English, which has a preference to exclude the serial comma between the last couple of list items. Choose whichever serial comma preference you prefer, but be consistent with usage.

Non-Restrictive Clauses

A non-restrictive clause is a non-essential part of a sentence that provides extra information (similar to brackets). Such clauses can be in the middle or at the end of a sentence. We should always add commas for setting off non-restrictive clauses, typically added with phrases like such as, otherwise, and which. These are some examples of non-restrictive clauses set off with commas:

• “There are many great historic attractions in Rome, such as the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, and Castel Sant’Angelo.”
• “The video game, which I purchased from Steam, was grossly overrated.”
• “My pet dog, otherwise a Bulldog, barks like crazy.”

Dates

It is necessary to include commas for the US date format of MM-DD-YY. For example, the full date, June 6, 2025, should have a comma in between its day and year. This comma is necessary for separating two different numbers. However, a monthly date like June 2025 does not need to include a comma.

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives are two or more adjacent nouns for describing the same subject or noun. We should include commas in between coordinate adjectives within sentences. Here are a few examples of coordinate adjectives with commas included for them:

• “It was a cold, wet day in Glasgow.”
• “I took a holiday on a large, overcrowded cruise ship.”
• “Snooker is one of the dullest, least energetic sports to play.”

Quotations

It is a general rule to introduce short one-sentence quotations within paragraphs with commas. For example, the actor Matthew McConaughey is quoted as saying, “Life is a series of commas, not periods.” However, the AP Style guide advocates using colons for introducing quotes of two sentences or longer.

Commas are also used for closing quotes within sentences in American English. If you prefer to start a sentence with a quote and include attribution at the end, add a comma to the end of the quote before attributing the source. “Life is a series of commas, not periods,” said the actor  Matthew McConaughey.

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Transitional Phrases

Transitional phrases are phrases and words for connecting related ideas or showing contrasts at the beginning of sentences. Such phrases like however, so, nevertheless, consequently, as a result, for example, and thus can enhance the flow of articles or books when included. Always add commas after transitional phrases that start sentences, like in these examples:

• “So, who can tell me if we need to head north or south?”
• “Consequently, this vehicle won’t start.”
• “Nevertheless, Chelsea still won the match despite the bad start.”

Introductory Phrases

An introductory phrase is a set of words added before a sentence’s main clause. The purpose of most introductory phrases is to add extra context, more description, or set the stage for the main clauses in sentences. Infinitive, absolute, appositive, prepositional, and participial are the five main types of introductory phrases for starting sentences. Such phrases should always have commas that separate them from the main sentence clauses, as in these examples:

• “To move the rock, we’ll need a crane.”
• “An astonishingly colorful and vibrant show, the musical production was certainly worth watching.”
• “After bombing Pearl Harbor, the Japanese planes returned to their aircraft carriers.”

Direct Address

Direct address is a writing construct for the direct addressing of a person or group. Fictional books typically include more instances of direct address for character dialogue. When adding a direct address at the beginning of a sentence, you should add a comma after the noun. Add commas before and after directly addressed names added mid-sentence. These are some examples of comma usage for direct address:

• “Mr. Andrews, don’t forget the prior agreement we had.”
• “Billy, please answer the telephone.”
• “Dad, where did you put the door keys?”
• “Who knows, Dr. Smith, where your lost documents might be.”

Geographical Names

You must include commas for separating two connected geographical names. Connected geographical names are two parts of the same destination, such as city and country. Also, note that additional commas should be included after related geographical names in the middle of sentences. These are some geographical destinations with commas added to separate them:

• “The 1996 Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, Georgia.”
• “I took my vacation in Plymouth, Devon.”
• “I have lived in London, England, for many years.”

There are numerous other comma usage rules beyond those discussed here. However, the comma rules above are some of the most important ones that cover the most common usage scenarios. Remembering those rules will likely ensure more accurate comma placement in your articles, books, or other content.

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(How to Find Free-to-Use Images for Writing Projects.)

However, there’s a plethora of unique characters and symbols for maths, currency, punctuation, and diacritics (accent marks) that standard keyboards don’t have specific keys for entering. Here, we’ll look at how you can enter some of the more common and useful special characters in your articles for which there aren’t any specific input keys on standard keyboards.

The Most Common Special Characters Not Available on Standard Keyboards

Although standard keyboards are satisfactory for inputting standard punctuation marks, their mathematical, diacritic (accent mark), and currency character keys are limited. There are even some slightly more obscure punctuation marks standard keyboards don’t have keys for. 

So, most freelance writers will probably occasionally need to input some special characters or symbols not available on their keyboards. These are some of the more common and useful special characters that standard keyboards don’t have keys for entering:

• Em dash: —
• Yen (missing on English keyboards): ¥
• Section sign: §
• Fractions: ½, ¼, ¾, ⅔, etc
• Acute accent: é
• Euro (missing on US keyboards): €
• Grave accent: à
• Copyright: ©
• En dash: –
• Degrees (Fahrenheit or Celsius): °F °C
• Ellipse: …
• Card symbols: , , , and
• Manicule: ☛
• Registered trademark: ®
• Division and multiplication: ÷ and ×

An obvious shortcoming of standard keyboards is their lack of keys for diacritics accent marks like é and à. There are numerous common English words derived from French that have accent marks, such as café, résumé, déjà vu, cliché, and à la carte. Some people omit the accent marks from such words because there aren’t any specific keys for entering them.

Nor are there specific keys for basic multiplication, division, and fraction symbols. Some writers might improvise by entering the letter x or slash / for multiplication and division symbols rather than the correct ÷ and × signs. Standard keyboards are woefully inadequate for writing articles that cover mathematical topics.

There are also some useful punctuation marks omitted from standard keyboards, such as the em dash (—) and en dash (–). The em dash is an alternative to parenthesis used for the strongest possible break from a sentence. En dash is a punctuation mark used for numerical ranges or connections, such as 1914–1918, for example, that’s shorter than the em dash but longer than the hyphen. However, many people use the hyphen for ranges because there isn’t an en dash keyboard key.

Some legal secretaries might lament the fact that there isn’t an § character key on standard keyboards. The section sign (§) is a punctuation mark often needed for legal documentation and contracts. This mark is used for referencing sections in legal documents and is always followed by a number, such as “refer to §145 of document B” for example.

One interestingly obscure punctuation mark you can’t enter with standard keyboards is the interrobang. The interrobang (‽) is an exclamation and question mark wrapped into one. So, why not add interrobangs to some articles‽

Of course, there’s a limit to how many special character keys standard keyboards can include. It would be good to have additional keys for entering some of the more common special characters listed above, where possible. Nevertheless, there are alternative ways we can input such special characters into articles without specific keyboard keys for them.

Enter Special Characters With ASCII Codes

One way we can enter special characters and symbols not available on our keyboards is to input ASCII (Alt) codes for them. ASCII is an encoding standard that assigns unique codes to unique characters and symbols. We can enter special characters on Windows PCs by holding the Alt key and inputting their codes with the numeric keypad.

For example, the Alt code for inputting the copyright © symbol is 0169. To enter that symbol with its code, press the Num Lock key first (Num Lock must be on). Then, hold down the Alt key and input the code 0169 with the number keys on your keyboard’s numeric keypad.

The Alt codes for special characters can have one to four numbers. You can find the codes for many unique characters on this Alt code page. Look for the character or symbol you want to enter in your article on that page and input its adjacent code.

Use the Windows Character Map

The Character Map is a Windows tool with which you can enter special characters and symbols without remembering or looking up codes. This utility is included with all Windows platforms dating back to 2000. You can find, copy, and paste special character codes into your articles with that tool.

To access Character Map, first open Run by pressing the Windows logo + R key. Input charmap into the Run dialog and click OK. You will then see a Character Map window with a grid that includes myriad special characters for you to select.

To add a unique character from there, input a search term to find it. For example, enter a section sign keyword in the Search for box to find the § character. Click the § character found and Select > Copy. Then, press the Ctrl + V hotkey to paste the § wherever you need it in a document.

Add Symbols With the Emoji Keyboard

The emoji keyboard is an alternative Windows tool to the Character Map with which we can add a wide variety of punctuation, language, currency, mathematical, and supplemental symbols to articles. However, this tool also enables us to add emojis and kaomoji like the smiley. You can liven up your informal email or forum messages by adding emojis and kaomojis.

To open the emoji keyboard, press the Windows logo key + . (period|) hotkey. Click the Symbols tab within the emoji keyboard to see the special characters you can input in your article. To add a special character from there, click somewhere in your document’s word processor to enter it and select a symbol.

Check Out the Copychar Site

Copying and pasting special characters you need for articles is a simple way to enter them. Copychar is a website from which you can copy and paste diacritic, punctuation, currency, mathematical, numerical, symbol, and arrow characters into your articles. You can utilize Copychar to add special characters to documents open on Windows PCs, Android & iOS mobile devices, and macOS computers.

Open this Copychar website in a browser. To find a unique character there, input a keyword within that site’s search box. You can copy any character found there by clicking (or tapping for touchscreens) on it. Press the Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste the copied character into your document on a Windows PC.

Add Special Characters With Microsoft Word’s Symbol Tool

Microsoft Word users can add special characters to their articles with that software’s Symbol tool. This built-in World utility conveniently saves (or remembers) your most recently used special characters or symbols, which is a good feature. So, Word users might prefer that tool to the Windows Character Map.

You can access that tool for special characters by clicking Symbol > More Symbols on Microsoft Word’s Insert tab. Then, select a symbol to add and click Insert to enter it at your cursor point in a document. Alternatively, click the Special Characters tab to select a character to add.

So, don’t let your keyboard restrict the characters and symbols you use for articles. You can use many, many more unique characters and symbols by entering them into your articles, as discussed above. Using more special characters will enable you to add more punctuation marks, highlight key points better, and enhance visual clarification in your articles. 

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So let’s look at how to write dates correctly in sentences.

How to Write Dates Correctly in Sentences

Before we get too far along in this process, I’m going to focus on writing out months (no abbreviations) and using numerals for the numbers. I’ll add a little note about abbreviations below, but it’s basically the same rules.

(Why the Oxford Comma, or Serial Comma, Is So Cool.)

So let’s start with the basics. How do I write a date? OK, let’s use the official cinematic release date of the movie Jaws, which was 6/20/1975 in the United States. If we want to write this date out, we would write June 20, 1975. If we wanted to write out the date in a more general way that just included the month and year, we would write June 1975.

How to Write a Date at the End of a Sentence

The example above gives a hint for how to write a date at the end of the sentence. Writers should write out the month, give a space before writing the numeral for the day, follow that with a comma and space, and then, write the numeral for the year followed by a period.

Correct: Jaws was released in the United States on June 20, 1975.
Incorrect: Jaws was released in the United States on June 20 1975.

If we wanted to be more general, we’d do the same thing, except we’d remove the numeral for the day and the comma and space that follow it.

Correct: Jaws was released in the United States in June 1975.
Incorrect: Jaws was released in the United States in June, 1975.

How to Write a Date in the Middle of a Sentence

Writing dates at the end of sentences is a piece of cake, but what about if a date pops up in the middle? Well, it’s actually pretty easy to handle there too. If there is a numeral for the day, remember to offset your year with a comma before and after the year numeral.

Correct: Jaws was released in the United States on June 20, 1975, and overseas in December 1975.
Incorrect: Jaws was released in the United States on June 20, 1975 and overseas in December 1975.

If there’s not a numeral for the day (that is, just month and numeral for the year), then no extra commas are necessary.

Correct: Jaws was released overseas in December 1975 and in the United States on June 20, 1975.
Incorrect: Jaws was released overseas in December 1975, and in the United States on June 20, 1975.

What’s Happening With “In” vs. “On” When Writing Out Dates?

So you noticed that I changed prepositions? Of course you did (or you can act like you did). There is actually a right and wrong time to use each of these prepositions when writing out dates.

In is used when writing out general dates like months and years. 

Correct: Jaws was released overseas in December 1975.
Incorrect: Jaws was released overseas on December 1975.

Meanwhile, on is used when writing specific days, dates, and holidays.

Correct: Jaws was released in the United States on June 20, 1975.
Correct: Jaws was released in the United States on Friday.
Incorrect: Jaws was released in the United States in June 20, 1975.

How to Handle Abbreviations When Writing Out Dates

All the rules above apply when abbreviating the month when writing out dates. The only difference is that instead of writing out “June,” as an example, you would write “Jun.” with the period after the first three letters.

Here’s the easy way to abbreviate the months:

• Jan. = January
• Feb. = February
• Mar. = March
• Apr. = April
• May = May
• Jun. = June
• Jul. = July
• Aug. = August
• Sep. = September
• Oct. = October
• Nov. = November
• Dec. = December

Of course, consistency is not always a consistent feature when it comes to grammar. Some style guides do not abbreviate June or July (treating it like May) and for some odd reason even jump to a four-letter abbreviation for September (as Sept.) and only September. 

If someone can invent a thing like daylight savings time, I guess they can get weird with abbreviations too. So just be aware if you’re supposed to use a specific style guide. If not, make your life easier and either spell out the month or use the three-letter abbreviations.

*****

No matter what type of writing you do, mastering the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics is an important first step to having a successful writing career.

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Learn more about Michael Arndt’s Snails & Monkey Tails: A Visual Guide to Punctuation & Symbols

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No matter what type of writing you do, mastering the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics is an important first step to having a successful writing career.

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I openly admit I was a late bloomer when it came to reading and writing. As such, I often tried to keep my punctuation as simple as possible, which meant I avoided using the semicolon. If I used it, I worried that I misused it. So this is a subject near and dear to my heart.

(End the debate: Why the Oxford comma is so cool!)

It wasn’t until I started working on the Writer’s Market Books series that I grew comfortable using the semicolon; in fact, it proved invaluable for the many complicated serial lists we use in the books. And now, I can’t imagine a life without this necessary piece of punctuation.

Let’s take a look at proper semicolon use and how using the semicolon can add a little spice to your writing.

Examining Correct Semicolon Use

For the longest time, I thought semicolons were a piece of punctuation that indicated a longer pause than a comma that was simultaneously shorter than a period or colon. I guess that may be true, though I don’t know notice the pause when I read in my head. Rather, I think about how a semicolon connects things—specifically, independent clauses.

Semicolon Rule #1: The semicolon links two independent clauses that are closely related in thought.

Example #1: Robert liked reading; books provided him with information, as well as an escape.

Example #2: Thomas flew his kite at the park; Mary flew hers at the beach.

In the first example, Robert’s enjoyment of reading is one independent clause, and the second independent clause builds on that first thought by explaining what books offer him. In the second example, both independent clauses explain where people flew their kites.

Semicolon Rule #2: Remove the conjunction when you use a semicolon (in most cases).

If you look at the two examples above, you’ll notice the conjunction words are removed. In both cases, the semicolon could be replaced with a comma and conjunction word.

Example #1: Robert liked reading, because books provided him with information, as well as an escape.

Example #2: Thomas flew his kite at the park, and Mary flew hers at the beach.

These examples are all correct. So it’s really a matter of taste and style for using either up to this point. Also, eagle-eyed readers will notice that I said this conjunction rule is correct “in most cases.” The exception comes in the next rule.

Semicolon Rule #3: Use semicolons in a serial list that contains extra punctuation within the list or when a previous independent clause contains one or more commas.

This is how I first came to know and feel comfortable with the semicolon, because the Writer’s Market Books are filled with lists.

Example #1: This editor likes adult fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and romance; young adult fiction, including literary, coming-of-age, and dystopias; and adult nonfiction, mostly self-help related to personal discovery.

Example #2: Thomas flew his kite at the park, ate pizza for lunch, and read a book; Bobby tossed baseball for an hour and took a nap; and Carla watched television.

In the first example, the semicolon helps readers know where the list related to the main categories of adult fiction, young adult fiction, and adult nonfiction begin and end. In the second example, these could be three separate sentences, sure, but they connect well with the semicolon too. Using all commas in these examples would be confusing.

A few more thoughts on semicolon use

The first final thing I want you to notice is that capitalization rules for the semicolon are the same as with the comma. This is not always the case with colons, but that’s a post for another day.

The other final thing I want to share is that it’s totally fine to use conjunctive adverbs—words like however, therefore, finally, and then—with semicolons.

Example #1: Robert liked reading; therefore, he was often found at the library.

Example #2: Cindy flew her kite at the park; moreover, she did nearly everything at the park.

Again, you’ll notice in these examples that writers could easily get away with avoiding the semicolon altogether, which is what I used to do. However, I hope you don’t avoid the semicolon out of fear—as I used to do; rather, let it reflect your own stylistic leanings.

Learn more in the online course, Grammar and Mechanics, from Writer’s Digest University:

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Let’s start with defining the Oxford comma (also known as a serial comma—or even a Harvard comma apparently): It’s the comma that follows the penultimate item in a list of three or more things. And it’s apparently a thing that many writers and grammarians love to debate, though I’m not sure why.

(Analogy vs. Metaphor vs. Simile.)

Let’s take a look at the Oxford comma debate and why using the serial comma actually makes things easier—despite an extra comma here and there.

The Oxford Comma Debate

As far as I can tell, the main argument against using the Oxford comma is that it’s somehow easier to not insert a comma at the end of a list of three or more items. Let’s look at this example: We invited my parents, Thomas and Nancy.

This makes great sense if I invited two people named Thomas and Nancy, who both happen to be my parents. Plus, I included their names for easy reference. But if I actually invited four people, then this could be confusing, because I should’ve done one of the following:

Example #1 (with serial comma): We invited my parents, Thomas, and Nancy.

Example #2 (sans serial comma): We invited Thomas, Nancy and my parents.

While both of those examples are now correct and make sense, the door opened by not consistently using the Oxford comma seems to tempt a lot of possible problems for the sake of omitting a comma. I love streamlined language as much as the next person, but this seems like excessive laziness to me. Is it really so hard to insert a serial comma at the end of both lists?

What do you think?

Here are a few more examples:

Oxford comma: He shared the news, his breakfast, and coffee with his guests.
No Oxford comma: He shared the news, his breakfast and coffee with his guests.

Oxford comma: She reads young adult, science fiction, and nonfiction.
No Oxford comma: She reads young adult, science fiction and nonfiction.

In the first example, does he share the news along with his breakfast and coffee with his guests, or is the news in actuality his breakfast and coffee? In the second example, does she read young adult, science fiction, and all manner of nonfiction, or does she read young adult—both science fiction and science nonfiction?

Maybe both examples without the serial comma make sense to some (maybe even a majority of) people who read them. But why risk confusion in the first place? Does that extra comma really take so much effort on the part of the writer or editor?

I loathe excess, but the consistent use of the Oxford comma actually makes language—reading and writing—so much easier to comprehend; and that’s why I love it!

Learn more in the online course, Grammar and Mechanics, from Writer’s Digest University:

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