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The gapping comma is very easy. We use a gapping comma to show that one
or more words have been left out when the missing words would simply repeat
the words already used earlier in the same sentence. Here is an example:
- Some Norwegians wanted to base their national language on the speech
of the capital city; others, on the speech of the rural countryside.
The gapping comma here shows that the words wanted to base their national
language, which might have been repeated, have instead been omitted. This
sentence is equivalent to a longer sentence like this:
- Some Norwegians wanted to base their national language on the speech
of the capital city; others wanted to base it on the speech of the
rural countryside.
Here is another example, which contains both listing commas and gapping
commas:
- Italy is famous for her composers and musicians, France, for her chefs
and philosophers, and Poland, for her mathematicians and
logicians.
(Here I have inserted a listing comma before and for the sake of clarity.)
Gapping commas are not always strictly necessary: you can leave them
out if the sentence is perfectly clear without them:
- Italy is famous for her composers and musicians, France for her chefs
and philosophers, and Poland for her mathematicians and
logicians.
Use your judgement: if a sentence seems clear without gapping commas, don't
use them; if you have doubts, put them in.