Q. My writer frequently writes a sentence with several points, each of which is denoted by a number inside parentheses. Sometimes these points are preceded by a comma or semicolon, and sometimes there is no punctuation to distinguish between each part other than the aforementioned (#)s. Which way is correct? Should these points be preceded by some punctuation, and if so, what kind?
A. Write the sentence with whatever punctuation would be appropriate if there were no inserted numbers. That is, (1) you should be able to remove the numbers, and (2) afterward, you should be left with a correct sentence.