Instructions: Add commas where needed in the following sentences. Some sentences may not require commas. (Rule 2a) Work: 1. Students parents teachers and visitors attended the school play. -So i put the commas between students and parents, and i put it between parents and teachers, but do i put it between teachers and visitors?
And, Losa, keep in mind that what you wrote in your first post here is a sentence with a series of NOUNS, not adjectives:
"Students parents teachers ... visitors" = all nouns
Students, parents, teachers, and visitors . . .
Students, parents, teachers and visitors . . .
Whether to put a comma between "teachers" and "and" depends upon your style manual. Go with what your book says.
Ok Ms.Sue. I checked all over, and i came across the Common Rules for it. It says to separate 2 or more adjectives preceding a noun with a comma.
Ok. Then you don't need a comma before "and."
Sometimes, when you omit that comma before the conjunction, you alter the meaning of the sentence.
You might be interested in an article about English grammar in the workplace:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404577466662919275448.html
This passage explains and illustrates why you should ALWAYS include that serial comma before the conjunction:
Tom Kamenick battled fellow attorneys at a Milwaukee, Wis., public-interest law firm over use of "the Oxford comma" — an additional comma placed before the "and" or "or" in a series of nouns [or phrases]. Leaving it out can change the meaning of a sentence, Mr. Kamenick says: The sentence, "The greatest influences in my life are my sisters, Oprah Winfrey and Madonna," means something different from the sentence, "The greatest influences in my life are my sisters, Oprah Winfrey, and Madonna," he says. (The first sentence implies the writer has two celebrity sisters; the second says the sisters and the stars are different individuals.)
Ok. I will Writeacher. Thank you Writeacher and Ms.Sue!
To determine if you need to add a comma between "teachers" and "visitors" in the sentence "Students, parents, teachers and visitors attended the school play," you need to apply Rule 2a, which states that you should use commas to separate items in a series.
In this sentence, you are listing four groups of people who attended the school play: students, parents, teachers, and visitors. Since there are three items before "and visitors," you need to insert a comma after "teachers" to correctly separate all four groups. This makes the revised sentence: "Students, parents, teachers, and visitors attended the school play."