Commas in Lists
English: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 2.10.2
Using Commas for Lists
You need to use commas in lists to make it clear you are writing a list.
List without commas
- The children found an acorn a newt conkers and smooth pebbles in the wood.
- This sentence is very hard to read and very confusing!
List with commas
- The children found an acorn, a newt, conkers and smooth pebbles in the wood.
- See how much easier the sentence is to read with commas.
Another list without commas
- The dog can sit roll over fetch a ball and shake paws.
- This sentence is very hard to read and very confusing!
Another list with commas
- The dog can sit, roll over, fetch a ball, and shake paws.
- See how much easier the sentence is to read with commas.
Test yourself on Commas in Lists
What punctuation is missing from this list?
Billie had a ruler a rubber a pencil a sharpener and felt tip pens in his pencil case.What punctuation should we use when we are writing lists?