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Quick question: Which of these three sentences do you find most readable? Assume that the speaker has only one boyfriend and one daughter, and that Randy also has only one daughter.
"This is my boyfriend Randy, my daughter Evie, and Randy's daughter Rose."
"This is my boyfriend, Randy, my daughter, Evie, and Randy's daughter, Rose."
"This is my boyfriend, Randy; my daughter, Evie; and Randy's daughter, Rose.
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At first I went with the first one, but I totally see BW’s point with the third.Second feels a bit too stop/starty although I couldn’t honestly say which is most correct.
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@BronxWench A semicolon slut? Where have you been all my life?
@JayDee This isn’t so much about grammatical correctness as readability. Which sentence is the most quick and easy to understand?
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For me, it’s definitely the second. Semicolon’s are much more of a pause than a comma is. You’re describing a list of things that are directly related to each other, so they belong in the same list. Semicolon’s – basically just a step up from a full stop - essentially break it up into several, less related items. Besides, if you’re saying something like “This is my daughter, Evie”, you should always put a comma after the word daughter. The comma has become unpopular in recent years, for some baffling reason, but comma’s make sentences more readable, not less readable, if done right. Nothing infuriates me more than a lack of comma’s!
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