Using commas correctly can make your writing clearer and easier to read. Following the Bellevue College style guide, here’s a quick overview of how to use commas effectively, including when to use the Oxford comma and when to skip it.
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A Quick Guide to Using Commas at Bellevue College
Using commas correctly can make your writing clearer and easier to read. Following the Bellevue College style guide, here’s a quick overview of how to use commas effectively, including when to use the Oxford comma and when to skip it.
The Oxford Comma
The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is placed before the final conjunction (such as and or or) in a list of three or more items. Using this comma can help reduce ambiguity and make sentences easier to follow. Bellevue College follows federal and state “plain language” guidelines, which recommend using the Oxford comma in most cases.
Examples:
- Correct: “The artist was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect.”
- Correct: “The names of the Three Little Pigs are Heimlich, Dieter, and Horst.”
In both sentences, the Oxford comma is used before the final and, making each item in the list clear and distinct.
Avoiding Commas in Common Phrases with Conjunctions
Not all phrases that contain conjunctions need a comma. If you’re writing a common phrase that naturally includes a conjunction—like ham and eggs—you don’t need to add a comma.
Example:
- Correct: “I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.”
Here, there’s no comma between ham and eggs because the phrase is a commonly understood pairing that doesn’t require separation.
Quick Tips to Remember:
- Use the Oxford comma for clarity in lists of three or more items.
- Skip the comma in common paired phrases like ham and eggs that already contain a conjunction.
Following these guidelines will help make your writing clear, concise, and consistent with Bellevue College’s standards.
About the Bellevue College Style Guide
Bellevue College has recently updated its editorial standards, ensuring consistency and clarity in all written communications across campus. These guidelines are essential for maintaining a unified voice, making our communications easier to understand, and reflecting professionalism in all publications, whether it’s a campus-wide announcement, a department newsletter, or social media content.
Following a consistent style ensures that our readers—students, faculty, staff, and the wider community—receive clear, accessible information. Bellevue College primarily follows the Associated Press (AP) Stylebook and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, with some customizations to meet our specific needs.
Through this blog series, we’ll dive into various components of the style guide, helping writers and editors across campus understand how to apply these standards effectively in their work.
The complete style guide can be found on the Bellevue College website.
Last Updated November 14, 2024