Word Power

If you ever came across these questions in your mind,here are the answers from the expert to help you out.

A comma before 'and'?

Examples of two different usage of commas:
1.The food sold in the canteen includes fried noodles,fried rice,noodle soup and
sandwiches.
2.Food served at the party included sandwiches,hot dogs,spaghetti, and fried
noodles.

Answer:

In British English,the comma is usually omitted before the "and" separating the last two items in a list or series, as in the sentence No.1.
However,if this items are long, a comma is usually used,e.g. "The food sold in the canteen includes fried noodles, fried rice, noodle soup with prawns, and toasted tuna sandwiches."
This means the sentence No.2 quite acceptable.


Plural after no?

Example: 'Chelsea have no plans to sell or buy'-adapted from the front-page headline of a newspaper.

Answer:

When there is "no" before a countable noun, the plural form of the noun is generally used unless the context makes it necessary to use a singular noun, e.g.

1."She had no mother to look after her."(We can have only one mother)

2."Are you looking for a boy?There are no boys in this hostel."

3."There were absolutely no taxis on the road!"



source-Fadzilah Amin,
Mind Our English,The Star