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Old 3rd May 2008, 01:18 PM   #17 (permalink)
Laerten
Aspiring Writer
 
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Denbighshire
Posts: 83
Re: Ands and Commas - Grammar Confusion

I tend to always stick to the reasons for using punctuation that I learnt in school.

If your sentence needs a natural 'breather' before continuing then you should use punctuation e.g. commas etc. If your sentence is short enough not to need this 'breather' then don't. This rule works for using puctuation around the word 'and'.

To quote the above example:

He ran the Marathon in 2hr 10min and later broke the long jump record. (I would not use commas here as I feel the sentence does not need a breather)
In the morning he ran the Marathon in 2hr 10min and, later in the day, broke the long jump record. (If the sentence is made longer it warrants a breather)

I feel that the best way with punctuation is to read your sentence out loud, if it sounds better with punctuation, then put it in.
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