What is the Proper Grammar Structure for Commas in a List of Items?
When writing a series of items separated by commas, do you include a final comma before the last item in the list or not? Which of two examples below is right?
I want you to buy bananas, apples, oranges, and grapes when you go to the store.
or
I want you to buy bananas, apples, oranges and grapes when you go to the store.
Either is correct. British oriented grammer omits the last comma; American oriented grammer includes the last comma.
Both are acceptable. I always use the the comma before the 'and' as it still separates the items. I believe it is known as the Oxford comma. With that list of things to buy it really isn't essential; however, it could cause confusion with other things without the two items separated. I can't think of any at the mo, but I have seen some strange combinations without the comma.
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