Do you put a comma before and?

You need a comma before “and” in two situations: compound sentences and lists of three or more.

Compound sentence: Use a comma before “and” when it joins two complete sentences into one compound sentence.
- Tessa baked an angel food cake, and Zoe made a charcuterie board.
List of three or more (Oxford comma): Use a comma before “and” when it’s before the last item in a list of three or more (unless you’re writing for a publication or workplace that doesn’t use Oxford commas).
- The museum is open until 9:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

You don’t need a comma before “and” when it’s between two words or phrases. These comma rules apply to all of the coordinating conjunctions (“for,” “and,” “nor,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” “so”).

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Commas: Other interesting questions

Is however an adverb?: Yes, however can be classified as an adverb when used as follows:

As a conjunctive adverb to mean “but” (e.g., It is currently designated as agricultural land. However, this could change next year when new legislation is introduced.)

To introduce a dependent clause to mean “no matter how” (e.g., “It needs to be finished today however long it takes.”)

Like an interrogative adverb to express surprise in a question (e.g., “However could you possibly think that?”)

You may need to include a comma before or after “however” depending on how and where it is used in a sentence.
Do you use a comma or semicolon before however?: Both are possible when however is used as a conjunctive adverb to mean “but.”

We put a semicolon before however when it is showing contrast between two independent clauses (e.g., “We have not reached our goal; however, we are only at the beginning of our journey”).

We put a comma before however when it is used at the beginning or at the end of a sentence or clause (e.g. “We are, however, only at the beginning,” “We are only at the beginning, however”).
What are the comma rules for dates?: There are two comma rules for dates that are written in month-day-year format:

Always place a comma between the day and year (e.g., May 21, 2026).

If you’re using a full date in the middle of a sentence, use a comma after the date and a comma after the year (Dolly was born on January 19, 1946, in Locust Ridge, Tennessee).

When you’re unsure about when to use commas in dates, ask Quillbot’s Grammar Checker to proofread your writing.