by Joanna Norman
Sometimes there is a comma before the word “and”. Sometimes there’s not. This Norman Transcription Grammar Tip helps you decide when to use a comma.
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WHAT WAS SPOKEN
“Yesterday I was at the grocery store and I did not feel safe and there was a lady there who was coughing and sneezing constantly and she was not wearing a mask. I always wear a mask and gloves and I only needed to get a few things like milk butter bread peanut butter and cupcakes. An employee stopped her and asked her to put on a mask. She was embarrassed and said she’d forgotten it and quickly put one on and the employee was very kind and understanding.”
CORRECT TRANSCRIPTION
Yesterday I was at the grocery store, and I did not feel safe. There was a lady there who was coughing and sneezing constantly, and she was not wearing a mask. I always wear a mask and gloves. I only needed to get a few things like milk, butter, bread, peanut butter, and cupcakes. An employee stopped her and asked her to put on a mask. She was embarrassed and said she’d forgotten it and quickly put one on. The employee was very kind and understanding.
WHY
And is a coordinating conjunction. It is used to connect two or more like things (two nouns, two verbs, two clauses). If and is used to connect two independent sentences, a comma is placed before and. Otherwise, no comma is needed. If and is used before the last item in a series or list, a comma is optional.
DETAILED EXPLANATION
When and is used as a coordinating conjunction (think FANBOYS) to connect two complete, independent sentences, put a comma at the end of the first sentence before and:
- Yesterday I was at the grocery store, and I did not feel safe.
- There was a lady there who was coughing and sneezing constantly, and she was not wearing a mask.
When and is used to connect two nouns, two adjectives, or two verbs or two phrases, there is no comma:
- Two verbs: was coughing and sneezing
- Two nouns: mask and gloves
- Two adjectives: kind and understanding
When and is used at the beginning of a sentence, no comma. It is also acceptable to omit in standard transcription:
- And there was a lady who was …
- There was a lady who was …(and is left out)
When and is used before the last element of a list, a comma before it is optional (this is the infamous oxford comma)
- like milk, butter, bread, peanut butter, and cupcakes
- like milk, butter, bread, peanut butter and cupcakes
RESOURCES