Are the commas in the following sentence correct?
At the bottom, you can find more quick links to the Charity Commission, and Haringey, Waltham Forest and Enfield council websites.
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I don't understand why you'd want to include both more and quick. For institutions, there's only one link that is quick (other ones, if there are any, first take you higher up in the hierarchy, so are not quick), so you should omit the word more. In case they're all equally quick, you should omit the word quick. If none of them are quicker than an average internet link, you should omit both more and quick and just write "links".– Talia FordCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 15:58
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I edited the question to make it more clear. If this isn't what you intended to ask please revert the changes (or ask me to and I can).– MrHenCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:31
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possible duplicate of Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?– MrHenCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:32
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@MrHen The example here iincludes a list within a list.– TrevorDCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 18:23
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Unless quick links already exist (elsewhere than at the bottom) to "the Charity Commission, and Haringey, Waltham Forest and Enfield council websites," I think you need to add a comma after "quick links," to indicate that the the other quick links (with respect to which the ones at the bottom are "more") are not to those same sites.– Sven YargsCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 18:24
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3 Answers
The commas are fine. The writing style isn't. You should include the links in the text:
Further information at The Charity Commission, Haringey Council, Waltham Forest Council and Enfield Council.
Some may tell you that you need to put a comma after Waltham Forest, but don’t believe them. It would add nothing. Minimalist punctuators might say that you don’t need one after Charity Commission either, but it helps make clear the difference between the Commission on the one hand and the councils on the other.
If I may make a different point, the reader has to go to the end of the sentence before realising that it’s to the Charity Commission’s website that there’s a link. It might make it easier for the reader if you write:
At the bottom, you can find more quick links to the websites of the Charity Commission, and Haringey, Waltham Forest and Enfield councils.
answered Oct 15, 2013 at 15:42
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To me, the first ‘and’ sounds clunky. I would change it to ‘as well as’ and perhaps add a definite article as well. Separating the Commission’s site from the others’, though, makes the single plural form sound strange—I’d add an extra anaphor. I’d also get rid of ‘more’, which seems to contradict the fact that you are actually naming which links can be found, and move the adverbial (for no reason other than euphony): “You can find quick links to the website of the Charity Commission at the bottom of the page, as well as (to) those of the Haringey, Waltham Forest, and Enfield councils”. Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 15:51
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On second thought, really I think I’d just remove the word ‘website(s)’ altogether, since it’s obvious (as we’re talking about links) that the links lead to websites: “At the bottom of the page, you can find links to the Charity Commission, as well as (to) the Haringey, Waltham Forest, and Enfield councils”. Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 15:52
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Yeh, I like your last version - but there's still no need for the final comma. Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 15:56
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Heh, I didn't even realise I'd put that in there—pure cruise-control. You're absolutely right of course: that comma can go or stay with no difference in meaning whatsoever (as long as it's consistent with the rest of the text on the site, natch). Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 16:59
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@JanusBahsJacquet In the suggestion in your least-but-one comment, I would omit "the" before "Haringey". We might say "... to the Haringey, ... Council websites", but not "to the Haringey, ... Councils".– TrevorDCommented Oct 15, 2013 at 18:28
I would write "At the bottom, you can find more quick links to the websites of the Charity Commission, and the Haringey, the Waltham Forest and the Enfield councils".
In the US, the rule is to put a comma before the last item.
This might be clearer: "At the bottom, you can find more quick links to the websites of the Haringey, Waltham Forest, and Enfield councils, and the Charity Commission".
