Learn English – Is it correct to say: “A, B, then C” instead of “A, B, and then C”

grammaticalityprepositions

I sometimes hear people append the last item in an ordered list (especially a step-by-step procedure) with only "then" (without the preceding "and"). For example:

Go to google.com, enter miserable failure, then click I'm Feeling Lucky.

I understand the saying, but in written form, it seems incorrect. Is it correct English to omit "and" in this case?

Best Answer

This reference puts it best:

This is a comma splice, a faulty sentence construction in which a comma tries to hold together two independent clauses all by itself: the comma needs a coordinating conjunction to help out, and the word then simply doesn't work that way.

A practical piece of advice for remembering coordinating conjunctions from the same site:

It may help you remember coordinating conjunctions by recalling that they all have fewer than four letters. Also, remember the acronym FANBOYS: For-And-Nor-But-Or-Yet-So. Be careful of the words then and now; neither is a coordinating conjunction, so what we say about coordinating conjunctions' roles in a sentence and punctuation does not apply to those two words.

So, to answer the question -- no, the sentence needs to read:

Go to google.com, enter miserable failure, and then click I'm Feeling Lucky.

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