When teaching and proofreading, I often come across examples of commas without spaces following them (e.g. "London,UK" or "apples,oranges,bananas"). In addition to correcting these, I would like to clearly cite and explain the rule.
I believe the rule is that a comma should always be followed by a space, but would like to confirm this with a reliable citeable source, and have a complete list of exceptions. The only exceptions I can think of right now are:
- before a closing quotation mark: "Where," he wondered, "could it be?"
When this exception applies, the space follows the closing quote. - Within a large number: The factory produced 3,252,975 widgets last month.
- in the code portion of programming, where English grammatical rules don't quite apply
- in Tweets, telegrams, or similar settings with character constraints that lead to relaxation of grammatical rules
Are there reliable sources for this rule and/or other exceptions?
Best Answer
Yeah, comma is often followed by a space but that isn't the case with commas used in numerals, or when followed by a closing quotation mark. Numerals follows mathematical rules not grammar rules is the prime reason, while the reason of missing space between closing quotation mark & the preceding comma is simply because of old standardised grammar rules.
Also check this website for almost all examples of proper comma usage.
Also, in regard to social media platforms, these aren't formal modes of communication and thus, grammar rules don't necessarily apply to them.