tomatoes cucumbers mangoes mushrooms ground beef chicken broth milk eggs rock salt
Alex is going to the grocery store to buy… “Alex” is the subject, the person who is doing the action. “Is going” is the verb, what Alex is doing.
Alex is going to the grocery store to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, mangoes, mushrooms, ground beef, chicken broth, milk, eggs, and rock salt.
Please buy the ice cream flavors vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and mint. If you leave out the comma before the “and,” it makes it sound like you want a single flavor, chocolate and mint ice cream. For that reason, it is more common to put the comma before the “and” in a series than to leave it out.
George likes to eat pie, jump over bridges, sleep in on rainy days, and cuddle cats. In this case, each one is an infinitive, built from the original “to. ” Or it could be: George enjoys eating pie, jumping over bridges, sleeping in on rainy days, and cuddling cats. In this one, each one is a gerund. Or it could be: George likes pie, bridges, long naps, and cats. Here, we’ve changed every item in the list to nouns.
Please buy chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. This sentence indicates that any of these alternatives is okay. Use “etc. ,” “including,” “such as,” or “and so on. ” to show the list is not inclusive. For instance, in the example of the grocery list, maybe the list maker wants to tell Alex to buy salad ingredients but doesn’t need to specify exactly which ones: Buy the ingredients for salad, such as lettuce, tomatoes, and dressing. Alternatively, it could be: Buy lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and so on to make a salad. Or: Buy lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. to make a salad Or: Buy ingredients for salad, including lettuce, tomatoes, and dressing. Use a colon before the list if the text before it is a complete sentence. For example, you could write: Please buy the following ingredients: lettuce, tomatoes, and dressing.
She likes to eat pies like cherry, apple, and strawberry; to buy ice cream flavors like rocky road, vanilla, and cheesecake; and to make cookies like chocolate chip, snickerdoodle, and molasses. Because the items in the list have their own commas, they are actually separate lists all their own. That is, “pies like cherry, apple, and strawberry” is its own list. Therefore, it’s confusing to have a comma after it, as the reader may not be clear where that list ends and the bigger list begins. In this instance, and others like it, using semi-colons is more appropriate.
