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4.13 Items in a Series and Nonrestrictive Elements

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1 Chapter 1: ACCUPLACER Suite Overview & Testing Mechanics

1.1 The ACCUPLACER Testing System & Computer-Adaptive Mechanics 1.2 Placement Policies, Score Scales & Institutional Cut Scores 1.3 Test-Taking Strategies, Tool Mechanics & Pacing

2 Chapter 2: Next-Generation Reading

2.1 The Reading Test Blueprint: Set-Based and Discrete Items 2.2 Information and Ideas: Close Reading & Central Themes 2.3 Summarizing and Understanding Relationships 2.4 Rhetoric, Text Structure & Author's Purpose 2.5 Analyzing Point of View and Authorial Purpose 2.6 Analyzing Arguments: Claims, Counterclaims, and Evidence 2.7 Synthesis & Paired Text Comparative Analysis 2.8 Vocabulary in Context & Figurative Language 2.9 Passage Genre, Content Area, Mode, and Text Complexity 2.10 Answer-Choice Traps and Evidence Discipline

3 Chapter 3: Next-Generation Writing: Expression of Ideas

3.1 The Writing Test Blueprint: Passage Sets and Content Distribution 3.2 Development: Proposition and Supporting Evidence 3.3 Focus: Adding, Retaining, and Deleting for Relevance 3.4 Organization: Logical Sequence and Paragraph Order 3.5 Introductions, Conclusions, and Transitional Cohesion 3.6 Effective Language Use: Precision and Word Choice 3.7 Concision: Eliminating Wordiness and Redundancy 3.8 Style, Tone, and Voice Consistency 3.9 Syntax: Sentence Combining for Rhetorical Purpose

4 Chapter 4: Next-Generation Writing: Standard English Conventions

4.1 Sentence Boundaries: Fragments, Run-ons, and Comma Splices 4.2 Subordination and Coordination 4.3 Parallel Structure 4.4 Modifier Placement: Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers 4.5 Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Tense 4.6 Inappropriate Shifts in Verb Voice and Mood 4.7 Inappropriate Shifts in Pronoun Person and Number 4.8 Subject-Verb Agreement, Pronoun Case, and Verb Forms 4.9 Possessive Determiners, Contractions, and Confusable Adverbs 4.10 Pronoun Clarity and Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement 4.11 Frequently Confused Words, Noun Agreement, and Logical Comparison 4.12 Within-Sentence Punctuation: Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Apostrophes 4.13 Items in a Series and Nonrestrictive Elements 4.14 End-of-Sentence Punctuation, Hyphenation, and Unnecessary Punctuation

5 Chapter 5: Next-Generation Arithmetic

5.1 Whole Number Operations, Estimation & Multi-Step Applications 5.2 Fractions, Mixed Numbers & Operations 5.3 Decimal Operations & Place-Value Conversions 5.4 Percent Calculations, Increase, Decrease, and Applications 5.5 Number Comparisons and Equivalents Across Formats

6 Chapter 6: Next-Generation Quantitative Reasoning, Algebra, and Statistics (QAS)

6.1 Rational Numbers, Absolute Value, and Order of Operations 6.2 Exponents, Radicals, and Scientific Notation 6.3 Ratio, Proportional Relationships, and Unit Conversions 6.4 Creating and Evaluating Algebraic Expressions 6.5 Linear Equations, Inequalities, and Systems of Two Equations 6.6 Linear Applications, Functions, and Graphs 6.7 Probability and Sets 6.8 Descriptive Statistics: Center, Spread, and Graphical Displays 6.9 Geometry for Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1

7 Chapter 7: Next-Generation Advanced Algebra, Quadratics & Polynomials

7.1 Advanced Linear Equations, Systems, and Coordinate Geometry 7.2 Factoring Methods for Quadratics, Cubics, and Polynomials 7.3 Quadratic Equations, Vertex Form & Parabolic Functions 7.4 Polynomial Equations, Roots, and Graphs 7.5 Radical and Rational Equations and Functions 7.6 Geometry for Algebra 1 and Algebra 2

8 Chapter 8: Functions, Exponentials, Logarithms & Trigonometry

8.1 Function Notation, Transformations, Compositions & Inverses 8.2 Domain, Range, and Interpreting Functions in Context 8.3 Exponential & Logarithmic Functions, Laws & Modeling 8.4 Right-Triangle Trigonometry, the Unit Circle, and Radian Measure 8.5 Law of Sines, Law of Cosines, and Trigonometric Equations 8.6 Choosing Your Math Test: Arithmetic, QAS, or AAF

9 Chapter 9: WritePlacer & WritePlacer ESL Essays

9.1 WritePlacer Prompt Format, Planning, and the Writing Process 9.2 The WritePlacer Scoring Rubric & 6 Core Dimensions 9.3 Reading the WritePlacer Score Scale: What Each Band Demonstrates 9.4 Essay Architecture: Thesis, Evidence Integration & Structure 9.5 WritePlacer ESL Scoring Standards & Synthesis

10 Chapter 10: ACCUPLACER ESL Placement Suite

10.1 The ESL Placement Suite: Structure, Scoring, and Score Interpretation 10.2 ESL Reading Skills & Passage Comprehension 10.3 ESL Sentence Meaning & Context Clues 10.4 ESL Language Use & Grammatical Mechanics 10.5 ESL Listening Comprehension & Spoken Contexts

4.13 Items in a Series and Nonrestrictive Elements

Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI

Items in a series are separated by commas, and by semicolons when the items themselves contain commas.

Nonrestrictive elements add non-essential information and must be set off by paired punctuation.

Restrictive elements identify which one is meant and take no punctuation at all.

Paired punctuation must match: a comma opening an interruption cannot be closed by a dash.

Whether an element is restrictive changes what the sentence means, so the punctuation decision is a meaning decision.

Last updated: August 2026

Two High-Frequency Punctuation Skills

Items in a series: The student will correctly use, recognize, and correct inappropriate uses of punctuation (commas and sometimes semicolons) to separate items in a series.

Nonrestrictive and parenthetical elements: The student will correctly use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive and parenthetical sentence elements, as well as recognize and correct cases in which restrictive or essential sentence elements are inappropriately set off with punctuation.

Note the second statement runs in both directions: adding punctuation where it belongs and removing it where it does not.

  • Part One: Items in a Series
  • The Basic Pattern

Three or more parallel items take commas:

✓ The survey measured soil density, moisture retention, and root depth .

The comma before and is the serial or Oxford comma. The College Board uses it, and answer choices reflect that convention, so include it.

Two items take no comma:

✓ The survey measured soil density and moisture retention . ✗ The survey measured soil density, and moisture retention.

Semicolons in Complex Series

When the items themselves contain commas, commas alone become unreadable. Semicolons take over as the top-level separator:

✗ The team included Reyes, a hydrologist, Chen, a structural engineer, and Okafor, a soil scientist.

Six commas — is that three people or six? Repair:

✓ The team included Reyes, a hydrologist; Chen, a structural engineer; and Okafor, a soil scientist .

Now the structure is unambiguous. This is the one context in which a semicolon separates items that are not independent clauses, and it is a frequently tested exception.

Superfluous Commas in Series

A comma does not belong before the first item or after the last:

✗ The survey measured, soil density, moisture retention, and root depth. ✗ Soil density, moisture retention, and root depth, were all recorded.

The second is the more insidious error: it separates a compound subject from its verb. Never place a comma between a subject and its verb.

Coordinate vs. Cumulative Adjectives

Adjectives modifying the same noun sometimes take a comma and sometimes do not.

Coordinate adjectives independently modify the noun — comma required:

✓ a thorough, well-documented review

Cumulative adjectives build on each other — no comma:

✓ a standard steel flange

Two tests, and coordinate adjectives pass both:

  • Can you insert and between them? thorough and well-documented ✓ / standard and steel ✗
  • Can you reverse them? well-documented, thorough ✓ / steel standard ✗
  • Part Two: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Elements
  • The Core Distinction

Restrictive (essential): identifies which one . Removing it changes what the sentence is about. No punctuation.

✓ The engineers who signed the report were subpoenaed.

Only the signing engineers were subpoenaed. The clause narrows the group.

Nonrestrictive (non-essential): adds information about an already-identified referent. Set off with paired punctuation.

✓ The engineers, who signed the report , were subpoenaed.

All the engineers were subpoenaed, and incidentally they all signed.

The two sentences differ only by commas, and they mean different things . This is why the punctuation decision is a meaning decision, and why these items are more than mechanical.

The Deletion Test

Remove the element. If the sentence still identifies the same specific thing, the element is nonrestrictive and needs punctuation. If the sentence becomes vague or over-broad, it is restrictive and takes none.

My colleague Dana Whitfield chaired the panel.

Remove Dana Whitfield : My colleague chaired the panel. If I have several colleagues, the name identifies which — restrictive, no commas. If I have exactly one colleague, the name is extra — nonrestrictive, commas.

Context decides. Proper nouns following a unique descriptor are typically nonrestrictive:

✓ The district's only hydrologist, Dana Whitfield , chaired the panel.

Only makes the referent unique, so the name is supplementary.

That and Which

In American usage:

that introduces restrictive clauses — no comma.

which introduces nonrestrictive clauses — comma required.

  • ✓ The report that the committee commissioned was released Tuesday. (identifies which report)
  • ✓ The report, which the committee commissioned, was released Tuesday. (one report; the commissioning is extra)

A comma before that is essentially always wrong; which without a comma is usually wrong.

Paired Punctuation Must Match

When a nonrestrictive element interrupts a sentence, it needs punctuation on both sides, of the same kind:

✗ The proposal, submitted in March — was rejected in May. ✗ The proposal submitted in March, was rejected in May. ✓ The proposal, submitted in March, was rejected in May. ✓ The proposal — submitted in March — was rejected in May. ✓ The proposal (submitted in March) was rejected in May.

A mismatched pair is one of the easiest errors to spot once you look for it: find the opening mark, then check that its partner matches.

The three enclosing devices differ in emphasis:

  • Device Effect
  • Commas Neutral; the default
  • Dashes Emphatic; draws attention
  • Parentheses De-emphasizing; whispers
  • Appositives

An appositive renames a nearby noun and follows the same rules:

  • ✓ The lead investigator, a former state geologist , testified for three hours. (nonrestrictive)
  • ✓ The novelist Ursula Chen testified. (restrictive — identifies which novelist)
  • Scanning Habits

Whenever you meet a comma before and , count the items.

Whenever a series item contains its own comma, expect semicolons.

Whenever you meet a clause opening with who , which , or that , run the deletion test.

Whenever you find one comma mid-sentence, look for its partner.