Q. Help! Here’s the problematic sentence:
Her efforts, along with the generosity of the Hearts and Art Ball Host Committee, Live Auction cochairs Joe Smith and Jane Smith, the Friends of the Museum, and our beloved patrons, have made this signature event possible.
I’m being told by a higher-up to remove the comma before “along with” and the comma after “patrons” because, in her words, “along is a preposition.” I think the commas (or better perhaps, em dashes) need to be there, but I can’t explain why. Can you give me a leg to stand on? Rewriting is not an option.
A. Your higher-up is correct that “along with” is a (double) preposition, but that does not mean commas are incorrect. In fact, the commas are useful in marking the parenthetical nature of the long and complex (and awkward) prepositional phrase:
Her efforts (along with the generosity of the Hearts and Art Ball Host Committee, Live Auction cochairs Joe Smith and Jane Smith, the Friends of the Museum, and our beloved patrons) have made this signature event possible.
The sentence is so awkward, perhaps one of your generous donors would pay the typesetting costs for changing it to something like the following.
This signature event has been made possible by her efforts, along with the generosity of the Hearts and Art Ball Host Committee, the Live Auction cochairs Joe Smith and Jane Smith, the Friends of the Museum, and our beloved patrons.
Your higher-up may also object to the comma after efforts in the revised sentence, and it is more optional there, but it will help readers navigate the complex sentence.
Q. When you start a sentence with so should it be followed by a comma? Example: So, let’s write one.
A. Because so serves different purposes, it’s not wise to make a rule that there should always or never be a comma after it. Try to hear the meaning in your sentence. If there’s a pause, consider using a comma while keeping in mind that other punctuation—or no punctuation—might make the meaning more clear than a comma.
So . . . let’s write one.
So! Let’s write one.
So—let’s write one.
So, let’s write one.
So let’s write one.
etc.
Q. Is it ever appropriate to elide a conjunction between two parts of a compound predicate and use a comma (for example, “He walked to the door, opened it.”)? I notice that many of the fiction authors I edit do this frequently.
A. In fiction weird constructions are sometimes appropriate; they should generally be tolerated until they become annoying.
Q. I’ve written a number of technical user manuals. I would always write, “Perform step 1a, then do step 1b.” But then the Microsoft style guide stated that I should always write, “Perform step 1a, and then do step 1b.” I prefer the former and think it’s perfectly OK. What sayest thou?
A. Although CMOS 16 was silent on the issue, it is covered in the new 17th edition in response to many reader queries like yours: “The adverb then is often seen between independent clauses as shorthand for and then, preceded by a comma.” Please see the examples at 6.57.
Q. We are publishing plays, and the dialogue is sometimes written to convey sound as well as sense. The playwright has “August 25th, 1989.” Is there any guideline preventing us from including the comma after the ordinal?
A. No, since this order of elements requires the year to be set off with commas. Regardless, the best way to write dialogue is the way you want it to be spoken rather than according to style guidelines for print. (We generally don’t expect people to speak in Chicago style.) If you want a slight pause (which most speakers would naturally supply before the year), write “August twenty-fifth, 1989.” Although that breaks Chicago’s style of using cardinal numerals, not spelled-out ordinals, in dates (August 25, 1989), spelling out “twenty-fifth” tells the actor how to read the number.
Q. You advocate using the serial (Oxford) comma in all applications, correct? If so, I disagree. For your consideration: when omitting the comma does not alter the meaning and, more important, the flow of the sentence, it should be omitted (e.g., I became friends with Jim, Barbara and their aunt).
A. Although Chicago favors the use of the serial comma as a default style and would therefore put a comma after Barbara in your sentence, our guidelines are not meant to be applied “in all applications” without thought to meaning or usefulness. They are meant to be applied with judgment and flexibility. We have stated this in every edition since the first one in 1906, and we hammer on it constantly every chance we get. Sigh.
Q. I’m editing a contract with many lists in it. After the recent court case involving the serial comma, I am trying to be even more diligent. I am sure at one point I read that if you have a list with items separated by the word or, you do not need a comma. I have looked through the entire comma, list, and conjunction sections of CMOS, but do not see any guidance. Which is correct? Here’s an example: I will eat pasta or pizza or salad. I will eat pasta, or pizza, or salad. Thank you in advance!
A. You will find what you’re looking for at CMOS 6.19: “In a series whose elements are all joined by conjunctions, no commas are needed unless the elements are long and delimiters would be helpful.” This doesn’t mean that commas are forbidden when the elements are short, however. In some cases where pauses are needed, they may be appropriate.
Q. I have run across this type of construction frequently in a fiction manuscript I’m editing. It feels somehow wrong, but I can’t find any reason why it should be. “Next to the door stood a single guard, an ugly aardvark that was staring at the ground and didn’t see them approach.” A colon instead of the comma would feel better, but is that an unnecessary change? (And colons look rather formal in fictional narratives.)
A. The sentence is fine. (Grammatically, at least.) The comma shows apposition.
Q. I’m new at this and want to learn all I can. Should there be a comma after Perhaps in the following sentence? “Perhaps I would never have had the opportunity for an education.”
A. A comma has the power to make readers pause, so first try reading the sentence out loud to see whether a pause would be problematic. CMOS 6.31 says that short adverbial introductory phrases are normally fine without a comma, and that seems to be the case in your sentence. Anytime you decide you do want a pause, consider whether you actually need something stronger than a comma, such as a period or dash.
Q. I’m confused why there is a comma before “as well as” in CMOS 6.19: “The team fielded one Mazda, two Corvettes, and three Bugattis, as well as a battered Plymouth Belvedere.” If “as well as” was replaced with “and,” there would not be a comma. I can’t find anything else about this in the Manual. Can you please explain?
A. The comma tells us to read the Belvedere as an afterthought—it hints that the battered car is in a different league from the other cars. A search of the Manual for the phrase “as well as” reveals that it is sometimes introduced by a comma and sometimes not, depending on context and meaning.