Hi, New enough to the forum so hello to everyone. I'm in the middle of writing a script for a video and I'm questioning myself in relation to a sentence I've just writing. Here it is... In the second sentence I use the word 'namely'. Is my use of the comma correct or have I got it totally wrong? Thanks for any feedback NOTE: business info, media file, my networks, files repository, business hours and friends and fans are all title headers in a webpage.
Given the nature of the example you gave, the term namely sounds a bit casual. I might have said to include. JMHO.
If you use 'namely' you aren't giving just a few examples, you are listing in an exact and detailed way the tabs at the top of the page--and you should have a comma after 'namely': You will notice a number of different tabs across the top of your page, NAMELY, business info, media file, my networks, files repository, business hours and friends and fans. (ALL the important tabs).
You use the phrase a number of in two successive sentences. The you will notice strikes me as presumptuous/condescending. The word namely is mere noise, and I would get rid of it completely. What I would do instead is use a colon followed by the list of headings:
Cogito, in your example, why have you used commas to separate the list? Would you not use semicolons? When would one know to use commas or semicolons?
Use commas when you can. Only use semicolons to separate lengthy items, or items which must themselves contain commas.
