"The store is impressive, yet thoughtful, and it feels like home."
or
"The store is impressive yet thoughtful, and it feels like home."
I'm not sure because it's qualifying something and seems "essential", but also not really.
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2I'm confused by what's being expressed, regardless of the commas. Thoughtful doesn't seem like something that would normally be used in contrast to impressive. I don't think that impressive normally generates an idea of thoughtlessness—so, it's odd to see yet used. However. Normally, yet is used between two contrasting words without a comma. But if you mean the information to be parenthetical—rather than truly contrasting—then the pair of commas could be used. It depends on what you mean and what your preference is.– Jason BassfordCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 0:25
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(FYI This is a quote). Thank you, this was very helpful!– DJCONCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 0:36
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With and without comma are both grammatical and make sense. There is a subtle or even significant difference in the meaning, though. See also Writing -- it's more about effective writing.– KrisCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 6:57
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As I always ask: why should only one of them be right? As in many such cases, they are both valid alternatives.– KrisCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 6:59
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It seems very strange to me to describe a store as “thoughtful”. I think I’d reserve that word for people or actions.– herissonCommented Jan 8, 2019 at 0:48
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1 Answer
Your first usage is "proper".
"The store is impressive, yet thoughtful, and it feels like home."
This is about restrictive vs non-resteictive clauses. You do not seem to be specifying that it is the "thoughtful" store to distinguish it from a different store; you are adding more information. So, use the one with two commas, "non-restrictive".
The second comma is also necessary to close the non-restrictive (which is also 'parenthetical') clause.
Also, this is not about the Oxford (serial) comma. Knowing which comma usage is in question will clarify the answer, and it does seem that you are aware of this.
As a final afterthought, if used on a billboard or poster, using the two commas also lends itself to attractive paragraph breaks, so all the more...
The store is impressive,
yet thoughtful,
and it feels like home.
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but the implicit question, why one would set the second comma but not the first one, kinda shows that both commas are rather similar.– vectoryCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 3:46
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That's what I was saying? You need to open the concessive clause, before closing it. However, the second example in the question shows use of the oxford comma. Anyhow, the second is needed for similar reasons and those apply to the first comma, too, whether the subclause is parenthetical or not. I do prefer your idea about "adding more information": Lists are comma separated (The store is thoughtful, impressive, and feels like home). However, and does regularly not need a comma, so why would yet? This is a quote from advertising. I don't think we need to be critical about the grammar.– vectoryCommented Jan 7, 2019 at 4:01