Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg  Not sure; never been one for English convention. I prefer to let good readability and intelligent syntax guide me.
I.e. If I say "the frog ate potato soup, pumpkin soup, and mango soup [just bare with me here]," that's a pretty good statement.
If I say, "the frog at potato soup, and pumpkin and mango soup," you don't know wether the soup was pumpkin soup combined with mango soup, or pumpkin soup and mango soup.
Notice the difference in clarity between the two? |
The difference in clarity is because you put an 'and' in there, and dropped a 'soup'.... not because of the comma.
"the frog ate potato soup, pumpkin soup and mango soup" <-- makes perfect sense (as much as soup eating frogs are wont to do!)
I am British, and I was taught that the last item in a list is separated by 'and' - so if it becomes "The frog ate potato soup and pumpkin and mango soup" then it separates the 'potato soup' from the 'pumpkin and mango soup'. However, grammar is as grammar does...
Doesn't excuse the misspelling of 'consciously' though
