I have a list of two items. One of the items has the word ‘and’ in it. How do I punctuate this so it is clear that there are only two items in this list?
The items in bullet format:
- Maths
- Art and History
If we make a sentence to list these items, even explicitly saying there are two items, it is unclear which are the two items. For example:
This term I am teaching two modules and they are Maths and Art and History.
One might use common sense to say history belongs with art more than maths perhaps. But there are many cases, I’m sure, where it isn’t so obvious.
Answer
There are several ways of rephrasing or punctuating the sentence to avoid ambiguity.
Some possibilities include:
This term I am teaching two modules and they are Maths and Art and History.
This term I am teaching two modules and they are ‘Maths’ and ‘Art and History’.
This term I am teaching two modules and they are Maths and Art & History.
This term I am teaching two modules and they are (1) Maths and (2) Art and History.
This term I am teaching two modules. One is Maths and the other is Art and History.
This term I am teaching a Maths module and an Art and History module.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : keyserSoze , Answer Author : Jason Bassford