Re: pw_text_cs, pw_text_nl & couple of suggestions

[James M. <jmc...@se...>]

Traditionally, you use a trailing comma to separate all the items in a 
series.  This is preferred by most academic style guides and editors.

It's generally accepted that you have the option to omit the final comma 
before the "and" (or other conjunction) if the list is simple.  You'd do 
this to help the list flow better, but only if you can obviously preserve 
the meaning of the sentence.  I believe that newspapers do this fairly often.

However, it's *always* correct to use the comma before the last item in the 
series, and it's sometimes required to do so to make the meaning clear.

If you don't have total control of the items in the list (which you don't in 
this programming scenario), it's safest to include the comma before the 
conjunction.  I think what you have for 'list_sentences_final_and' is correct.

Speaking the mother tongue,
JM


Martin Geisler wrote:

>>   $this->strings['list_sentences_final_and'] = ', and ';
>>                                                  ^^^^^^^^^^^ Here
> 
> 
> Are you thinking at the comma before the final 'and'? Or is it
> something else? If it's about the final comma, then that's how my
> teacher taught me to write a list in English - perhaps someone who
> has English as their mother tongue could comment on this?