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Ask Scott Dreyer:
Friend: A teacher once told me never to put a comma before the word “and.” Is that true ? Scott: Great to hear from you! No offense to your teacher, but he or she was wrong.
1. With 2 independent clauses (that is, a clause that could stand alone as its own sentence), you can add them together with a comma + and (or “but, yet, not, so” etc.)
Maddie brought the potato chips, and her mom brought the green tea.
(Note: If you really want to look fancy, you can use a semi-colon here.) Maddie brought the potato chips; her mom brought the green tea. 2. Before the last item for words in a series (in this case, it’s optional) Ricky brought chips, nachos, salsa, and napkins.
This is fine too: Ricky brought chips, nachos, salsa and napkins. For more info: “Grammar Tip 1” http://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/commas_before_conjunctions.htm
“Grammar Tip 2” http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/020204whencommabfand.htm
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