IXL | Use semicolons and commas to separate items in a series

Consider the commas in bold, which are used to separate the items in a list. If they are not used correctly, remove them or replace them with different punctuation marks.

Aboard Faith 7 in 1963, Gordon Cooper spent thirty-four hours in space, the longest space mission to date, completed twenty-two orbits of Earth, and landed in the Pacific Ocean, four miles from the recovery ship Kearsarge.

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question

Consider the semicolons in bold, which are used to separate the items in a list. If they are not used correctly, remove them or replace them with different punctuation marks.

Three of the deadliest plants in the world include water hemlock, which is a large wildflower that is sometimes confused with parsnips or celery; deadly nightshade, which has shiny black berries and green leaves; and white snakeroot, which is an herb with small white flowers.

key idea

Both semicolons and commas may be used to separate three or more items in a series.

In most cases, use commas to separate items in a series. Put a comma after each item in the list, except for the last one.

Our speakers will be Kevin O'Malley, Rachel Stein, and Linda Wu.

Use semicolons to separate items in a series when using commas would be unclear, such as when one or more items in the series already contain commas.

Our speakers will be Kevin O'Malley, an English professor; Rachel Stein, a print journalist; and Linda Wu, a blogger.

solution

Use semicolons. One or more of the items in the series have commas within them.

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MM.2Use semicolons, colons, and commas with lists

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