Liz in Newport Beach posed a good question about commas. Consider the following two sentences. “Days are usually great, but, when they aren’t great, they still pass in 24 hours.” “Every word should ...

DEAR RICHARD: The Oxford comma, also known as the serial comma, is the comma used before the conjunction in a list of three or more items. For example: “I like to eat apples, bananas, and oranges.” I ...

Punctuation helps the reader understand a story. Commas, periods, dashes and other marks convey the writer’s voice. They signal an emphasis or tone in language, as well as tell a reader when to stop ...