Grammar's great divide: The Oxford comma - TED-Ed 

Bring: * Bob * A DJ * A clown

In Arabic, we put a conjunction after every separate entity. So, it's like saying "Bring Bob and a DJ and a clown.

"There are so many bigger things to worry about." Don't be silly, the Coronavirus is smaller than a comma.

"And the very idea of a grammatical rule being optional is a bit odd." Welcome to English. Where there's a half dozen exceptions to every rule.

I remember being taught that it was optional, but I kept using it anyway because to me it seemed more organized. Just my opinion and preference.

If my first editor hates oxford commas, then there's a reason he was only the first.

I just realized, the video favors the Oxford comma because it placed one at 0:39, writing: "and, or, or nor", instead of: "and, or or nor"

I’ve never encountered a situation where the Oxford comma made a sentence less clear, but omitting it always has the potential to cause confusion.

My teachers hated it in high school, but I use it often ;)

Does anyone else see the irony in dedicating a book to both Ayn Rand and God?

That ending though. xD

Yeah, I’m a fan of the Oxford comma because it makes the items listed more parallel, hence clear, to me. It did bother one of my professors before and his argument was simply “it used up a space.” I think I’ll continue to use it.

I actually abandoned what I was taught in favor of the Oxford comma. I also put punctuation outside of quotes when it is not part of the quote because i am a programmer and logic demands it.

My English teachers in High School opposed it, and even marked it as a mistake and lowered my grades for using it. My teachers in classes at UNLV hated it too, but they didn't mark me down for using it. I use it because it makes my writing easier to read, parse, and understand.

I like the outro text. *"I dedicate this book to my parents, Any Rand and God."* This reminds me of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. Btw I'm all for the oxford comma, too.

I'm in support of it. The ending confused me so much without the Oxford comma lol

For the people from different languages suggesting their ways of doing things to be better, remember in English we have the 2 words of Read and Read when it comes to the action or completion of the action of reading a booking.... the way we tell them apart is that one is pronounced like the word lead whereas the other one is pronounced like the word lead.

Here in India we follow british English and I didn't even know of the existence of the Oxford comma until watching this video. I've always been taught to never put a comma before a conjunction.

I like the serial comma because if you don't use it, the last two items in a list look like they should be one entity or you don't read it right the first time because you don't pause when reading. For example: "Lisa, Jack, Angela, Henry and Grace" looks like the list should be going on because the comma should be what separates the words, not conjunctions. Also, conjunctions can be included in lists like: "Hector and April, Lou and Mary, Geoff and Carol, and Francis and Frankie are married."

I'm all for the Oxford Comma

I've always been taught not to use the Oxford comma, but nevertheless I tend to use it because I usually take the view that it makes things clearer. I got asked in an English test once to put the commas in a piece of writing, and I was left with no idea whether they wanted me to use Oxford commas or not as their usage is such a debated issue!

All my hs teachers mark me wrong when I use this and I cringe knowing that I’m technically in the right

I think most people keen on coherent communication would opt to use it, and for good measure, too. I love the Oxford comma (call me a commanist) for its function, and I also love it stylistically, since for me, a comma can be like a breath in a sentence, so having a list where you have a breath between each item except the last two would just sound inconsistent and add unwanted emphasis. Like "daisies, sunflowers, tulips, and roses" as opposed to "daisies, sunflowers, tulips and roses". It might entirely depend on the reader, but at least for me, the second version both looks and sounds inconsistent and awkward because there is a visible barrier created by the comma between the first three items but not between the last two. Oxford comma just reads and looks better.

You know, if Bob was really a Dj, the person could’ve just texted like this: ‘Bring Bob (a DJ) and a puppy

How to solve the problem (in Sweden) Enumeration: "bob, a dj and a clown" (3 ppl) To signal that bob is a dj and a clown there's one formal and one informal way. "Bob: a dj and a clown" (formal) "Bob - a dj and a clown" (informal) The formal is used for clarity and will be found in science papers etc. The informal is used for a smooth reading experience such as you expect from say a novel. I can't imagine what would prevent the anglo-saxon world from adopting a system like this and watch the problem go away. *sees the metric system* oh

She did bring a clown, which was herself thinking Bob was a DJ

I always use Oxford comma because I feel that it's more "fair" to the words. I list things and I want every single one of them accompanied by a punctuation mark. I don't want any of the words to be lonely.

0:54 it may not be as recommended, but in the uk I’ve never seen anyone not use the Oxford comma.

I'm German and wrote a thesis in English. I really envy the English language for that comma. Even without knowing of its existents, the related problem occurred to me many times when writing German texts.

My 4th grade writing teacher forced us to use the oxford comma in all cases. She also asked for clarity on situations that would have been more clear without that comma. I learned rather young that it needs to be chosen based on the content of the sentence and not for aesthetic purposes. Sadly I never had a teacher who agreed with me on that point.

The Oxford comma - Use it. Love it.

Let's eat, Grandma! Let's eat Grandma! Commas save lives

I always use oxford commas when listing things. It sounds more natural in pronunciation. If Bob is a DJ and a clown then I am less likely to pause between those two things. If I were listing "Bob, a DJ, and a clown" I would likely pause while saying each item on the list. To solve the problem I would probably use a dash or reword the sentence. Perhaps "Bob, a clowning DJ"

I'm in the pro-Oxford Comma category, thank you!

I generally avoid it but sometimes notice that it would be useful. Grammar is basically just about making your writing easily understandable for your readers. Good grammar is just good manners. :-)

I always instinctively and reflexively use this comma. For example, we have conventions already that point out different clauses in a sentence so that the idea can be grasped easily. If we want to say that ninjas, pirates, and vikings, who included among their number both old and young ages, then we'd simply say "Ninjas, pirates, and vikings, both old and young". If we meant to extend to old and young people who were not those first three entities, then we'd say "Ninjas, pirates, vikings, and others both old and young." If all of them were both old and young then you'd simply alter it like this "Ninjas, pirates, and vikings, all both old and young". You don't have to make a sentence so poorly that it's entire meaning hinges on a comma. If you wanted to specify one of those categories, then you'd say "Ninjas, pirates, and vikings both old and young." It's not that difficult. And in this case you are without reasonable ambiguity. Look further into it and it is even more apparent that the "Sensible Comma" is needed to avoid confusions. What if it had read "Ninjas, pirates and vikings both old and young"? Then clearly you are emphasizing that pirates and vikings had both old and young instances.

I'm from ireland and when I heard it I immediately thought that she had to bring three different people and I don't understand the confusion. I can't understand how people would interpret it differently

I am an English Undergrad at university and I support the Oxford comma. It makes sense to me. Solves more problems than it causes. My school didn’t teach it but I think I started using it at university when I found out about it.

What an amazing video! Thanks a million! Fantastic graphics that make learning exciting and fun to engage users! Brilliant job!

Yes for Oxford Comma!

0:07 Let me fix that for you: "Bring Bob, *who is* a DJ and a clown"

The serial comma (Oxford comma) should be made mandatory. It makes lists so clear and understandable. I can't imagine not using it.

GO SERIAL COMMA!!!

The trick is to always consider the use of a comma to be part of a list when ever it is not being used as a clarification pause, or the bridging of correlative statements. (Bracketed sentences work perfectly well as qualifiers, and for delivering superfluous clarifications.)

I really don't get why this is confusing, maybe because I'm not an English native speaker but seriously, if Bob is a dj you could just say "Bring bob the dj and a clown" the other way sounds like there are 3 different people. And the end bit sounds like the dedication is for 4 people which are mum, dad, any rand and God. If you wanna imply your parents are Ayn Rand and God you just don't put the comma after the word parents.

Of course, Ayn Rand and God both being people you admire would also be a bit odd.

I was brought up in the east coast USA where absolutely we were taught "no comma!" I was in my thirties when I finally bucked the local trend and began using it, to my Chicago-based editor's approval.

"Bring Bob as well as a DJ and a clown." Works also in voice messages.

Bring Bob - a DJ and a clown.

Why would you want to bring a clown to a party anyway?

I actually didn’t use the Oxford comma when I started writing a book until I started reading some story excerpts that uses it.

My high school english teacher taught me to use the oxford comma; then again she also taught me the use of commas, annotations, and semicolons to name a few.

Everyone here is supporting meanwhile I'm used to things without the Oxford comma and the Oxford Comma only makes me confused LOL

This is interesting. But I got here looking for the song, "Oxford comma"

In the UK, I was never taught about the oxford comma, but, since being online, I have been told off so many times for not using it so I have always been confused. Thank you!

Throughout all of my schooling, I’ve been told not to use the comma but a substitute teacher told us what it was in 3rd grade and I’ve used it since.

At the beginning when the sentence was 'Please bring Bob, a DJ and a clown', I thought the woman was asked to bring the DJ and a clown for Bob. Anyone else read it like that?

I’m a big fan of the Oxford comma. I find it clear and useful. My colleagues at work disagree and in fact have chastised me for using it - demanding I remove it from my writing

This was so good. It helped me a lot. Thanks.

I've always been told it was needed. Never thought of ditching it

I love the Oxford comma. I've been using it since elementary school.

We never use Oxford comma in Portuguese (at least, I never ever heard/saw it). Which is funny, because usually it's taught American English. And I never saw it in English. In Portuguese, we some "rules" to avoid that confusion, even if it requires some repetition. We would say "Bring Bob, that is a DJ, and a clown". When we the verb requires preposition, sometimes we can repeate it, like: "Give the gift to Bob, to a DJ and to a clown".

Did anyone else notice Bob picking his nose? It was really funny and a creative humor attempt by the animator!

That last example really got me.

I saw thing that said: "I dedicate this book to my parents, Ayn Rand and God" at the end and without even thinking I was automatically like, *"You forgot the comma"*

I didn't even know there was a debate on it.

I didn't grow up using it but started implementing it out of necessity when listing item pairs eg "Gin and juice, lemon and lime and rum and cola" becomes: "Gin and juice, lemon and lime, and rum and cola" Or possibly with ampersands: "Gin & juice, lemon & lime, and rum & cola" I dont know if this is technically the best way but it read the best to my eyes and internal monologue.

I was never taught to use, or not use the oxford comma. apparently I have been using it without knowing for a long time. The reason I used it was 1: It clears confusion. And 2: If I was reading aloud I would have naturally placed a small pause in the location of said comma.

Thanks for the video. As English is not my mother tongue, I didn’t know that such problem exists. It never occurred to me that: “Bob, a DJ and a clown” can mean that Bob is both those things. But I wonder, why don’t you use for example a rule, like in Slavic languages: The Meaning “Bob is ...” would be written down like “Bob - a DJ and a clown” because it is a definition. Or If you want to say: “My parents are Ayn Rand and God”, you would be writing “My parents: Ayn Rand and God”

We should also add a punctuation mark for taking an audible rest or pause, as the comma does that, but also effects the meaning of the sentence

Excellent video, and don’t forget the necessity of putting a comma between adjectives.

Great recitation and explanation of the issue.

One time when I was young my teacher said to never put a comma before 'and' and I was so confused cause I thought it was fine and I'm still annoyed at her cause using an Oxford comma has been so useful

I'm so happy they included South Africa

My problem with this comma is actually how I was taught to use it. My teacher had told me to only use it when the three items were all different, but that only confused me. I thought of different as in the categorical similarities of the items. But it is much easier to understand that you should separate with the comma what you want to imply as being separate.

I was brought up not to use it, but then I came to my senses, started using it, and convinced my whole family to start using it.

Please bring Bob, a DJ, and a Clown Please bring Bob, who is a DJ and a clown So much confusion could be avoided.

Video: To use, or not to use?. Comments section: *YES*

That part at the end: "my parents, Aryn Rand and god" was absolutely priceless.

The joke in the end was brilliant!

Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma? I've seen those English dramas too, They're cruel!

Seems like I need to share this video with, my friends and family

I've just learnt what this is and realise I've been doing this my whole life - I recently taught my father about proper grammar, and he pointed out the unnecessity of the comma, and I was like "uhh, idk, it just is" haha

This is such an interesting argument !

I think not using the serial comma is a lot more annoying than without. O _o It just looks wrong, on top of being confusing. Canadian. Some of us use it, most of us don't. Drives me insane.

For the last part, to avoid confusion couldn't you state the adjective before the noun? Everyone had a great time, young and old Ninjas, Pirates, Vikings, etc... I'm not very good at English....

When I was in school, I was told it wasn't needed. However, I still use it and used it prolifically in my papers. Of course I use Chicago Style, so it also makes sense for my field I suppose. It just feels far more intuitive to use it.

I love this video, the oxford comma, and vines.

That's why in Spanish the comma to separate elements is practically always used (especially before "y" and "además"), most for esthetic purposes, and to difference all the separate elements.

Problems german speaking people dont have.

in Indonesia, we were taught to use the oxford comma as a standardised writing. I was once get confused when I read some sentences in my English textbook that didn't use the oxford comma, just like the example written in the video. I thought it was a typo but it turns out there's a debate about commas out there 🙄

absolutely DELIGHTFUL!

"Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?" -Vampire Weekend

En Español, usar una coma antes de la conjunción "y" cuenta como error gramatical. Tampoco es correcto iniciar una oración con ésta.

Very nice video. So true too. I was told to use the serial comma when I was writing my dissertation, and the habit sticks.

I had no idea that this even existed. I was born in Australia and in primary school we were taught to use the oxford comma in listing things, just like how the video described it.

Team Oxford Comma!

Yes, yes, and yes.

I used to always use an Oxford Comma when I was in school even before I knew it was an actual grammatical device. Not all of my teachers were that keen on using it as some saw it as being clumsy. The idea that a comma should never precede the word 'and' was a rule that was followed with such stubborn adherence and I couldn't get my head around it. It wasn't until I progressed to top set English that my teacher actually encouraged the use of the comma.

I was always taught specifically /not/ to use it, but even when I was 7 I decided it made more sense to use it so my teachers always got mad at me for using it but I never stopped. (I'm in Canada so it isn't commonly taught)