Commas
In a series, place commas after each item but not before the final and.
- Books, pencils and rulers
In a quotation, put commas and periods inside quotation marks unless the quotation is not a phrase or clause. (See QUOTATIONS section.)
- "We need to recruit the best students we possibly can," he said.
- The Registrar’s Office announced that the changes would be "retroactive".
With a long descriptive title, put commas after the name and job description.
- Eric Koster, dean of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Science, spoke at the meeting.
- Patrice Blanchard, federal minister of immigration, visited York.
With degrees and long descriptive phrases, put a comma between the name, the degree, and the phrase.
- George Nelson, BA, MA, PhD, won a gold medal.
- Alice Johnson, PhD, a pioneer in genetic engineering, is a York graduate.
When writing a specific date that includes the day of the week, put a comma between the weekday and the month.
- Friday, Aug. 5
If abbreviating the weekday, remove the comma.
- Fri. Aug. 5
Use a comma before a list beginning e.g. but not before etc. at the end of a list.
- The walls were painted in a variety of colours, e.g. blue, green, peach, ivory etc.
- The abbreviated form ibid. is in more general use in bibliographies etc.
Use a comma before a list or clause beginning with i.e.
- Abbreviations are helpful when taking notes in a lecture, i.e. they can save you time and space.
For more information on commas, see the CP Stylebook.