Question

Choose the answer that demonstrates correct separation of the elements in a series and correct use of commas. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13 1935 October 13 1972 and October 13 1990. a. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935: October 13, 1972: and October 13, 1990. b. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935; October 13, 1972; and October 13, 1990. c. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on: October 13 1935; October 13 1972; and October 13 1990. d. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935, October 13, 1972, and October 13, 1990.

Answer 1

The correct answer is letter D. It shows and demonstrates the correct separation of the elements in a series and correct use of commas.
D. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935, October 13, 1972, and October 13, 1990.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935; October 13, 1972; and October 13, 1990.

Explanation:

In grammar, the comma is one of the most common punctuation marks used to introduce short pauses between different elements, this includes using commas to separate short elements that belong to the same category; using commas to add extra information in a sentence; using commas before certain words such as but, not, yet or after introductory clauses such as firstly, to begin with, finally and using comma to separate elements in a date. However, when the elements in a list are too long or have internal punctuation a comma should not be used as this would create confusing sentences, instead, other punctuation marks such as the semicolon (;) should replace the comma.

Considering this, in the case of the sentence presented in each of the dates "October 13 1935"; "October 13 1972" and "October 13 1990" the month and day should be separated from the year by using a comma; but the dates should be separated from each other by using a semicolon, because these elements belong to the same category but are too long and already have commas, which means using commas to separate them would be incorrect. Therefore the sentence that demonstrates the correct separation of elements and use of commas is "In our immediate family, there are birthdays on October 13, 1935; October 13, 1972; and October 13, 1990".