The serial semicolons

by | May 12, 2011 | Punctuation

If you are a copyeditor, I’m sure you know serial commas, aka Oxford comma. That’s the comma that precedes the last element in series as in

He loves reading, editing, teaching, and leading the team.

Yes, that one that follows “teaching”.

You as well know that serial comma is predominantly the style followed in US English.

While commas are used to separate items in a list, semicolons are also used to separate such items. This is when one or more of the list items have a comma already, as in

The participants of the meeting were Robert Langdon, the Manager; Sydney Sheldon, the Senior Manager; and Chandilyan, the Chairman.

This semicolon — the one following “the Senior Manager” — is called a serial semicolon, for obvious reasons.

But please remember, this “serial semicolon” is not a preference. Please use the serial semicolon irrespective of whether you follow serial comma. In other words,

Even if you don’t follow serial comma, when needed feel free to use a serial semicolon.

0 Comments

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Comma, the Commander | Editor's Essentials - […] There is. In the form of a semicolon. Semicolons separate list items if the list items either have internal…
Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar posts you may like . . .

Punctuation differences between American and British English

Punctuation differences between American and British English

What strikes you first when you hear the phrase “UK/US variants”? For most of us, it would be spelling variants. Have you ever come across UK/US variations with respect to punctuation? In our recent blog post, the author discusses some of the most common punctuation-level variations between UK and US English, drawing upon the CMoS and the APA style guide.

Books I love: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Punctuation can get tricky especially when it comes to deciphering what the author intends to say and what strokes or dots need to be used to enhance the structure and meaning of a sentence. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss, we discover how even the slightest of punctuation slipups can turn fatal!

Comma, the Commander

Commas are tiny, versatile, omnipotent commanders of the punctuation weaponry, helping us mortal editors who wage an everyday Kurukshetra against the evil of loss-of-meaning, the Incomprehensibility.