comma after 'and' / before 'as well as' [conjunction]

[Monkeyseat]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions about using commas.

1) Is it acceptable to put a comma after "and"?

Example: "I'm going to apply for promotion and, if successful, I'd love to stay in Ealing."

Source: Ian Jenkins quoted in an article by Michael Russell on the Ealing Gazette website.

In a sentence I wrote I placed the commas in the same way as this example has. However, I was unsure whether the first comma should come before "and" or whether there should be any commas at all!

2) Is it acceptable to put a comma before "as well as"?

Example: "The Vice President has an office in the West Wing of the White House, as well as in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building."

Source: Information on the White House website about the Executive Branch of the US government.

In a sentence I wrote with a similar structure to this example, I placed a comma before "as well as" because it seemed right. However, I have read that you shouldn't place a comma before "as well as" so I just wanted to clarify. I know you could probably use "and" instead and avoid the issue but in my actual sentence I have used it a couple of times already so it would be a bit repetitive.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Copyright]

Personally, I like both your examples just they way they are... probably because that's exactly the way I would do it.

 

[Monkeyseat]

Thanks for your reply. They seem right to me too, but after searching on Google for answers I wasn't sure. I'm still not certain about the second example, but I don't think there are any hard and fast rules regarding comma placement in either of those two situations. Does anyone have anything else to say?

 

[panjandrum]

...

1) Is it acceptable to put a comma after "and"?

Example: "I'm going to apply for promotion and, if successful, I'd love to stay in Ealing."

It may seem like splitting hairs, but there is no comma after and
There are two commas, one on either side of the non-essential comment if successful.
They are called "bracketing commas" in THIS LINK.
There is a lot of other very sensible advice about comma use there. It should help you with the second example.

 

[Monkeyseat]

Thanks for the link. The first example is fine from what I read then.

In the second example, is the bit "...., as well as in the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building." known as a weak interruption then? I'm still not sure because although it looks to me like it could be taken out and still leave a valid sentence, I also thought that it was a crucial part of the sentence.

 

[panjandrum]

I carefully avoided the second sentence
I don't like "as well as" sentences - but that's personal.

What is the purpose of the sentence?
Stripping out some irrelevant words, here is a simpler version.
The vice president has an office in A, as well as in B.
The "as well as" here seems to introduce an aside, a kind of "and by the way the VP has another office in B".

Take the comma out.
The vice president has an office in A as well as in B.
Now I think the important message is that the VP has two offices.

So if the writer intends the reference to the office in the Eisenhower Building to be an aside, the comma is fine by me.
The White House will be relieved.

 

[Monkeyseat]

Haha, thanks. So really there's no rule that you should never put a comma before "as well as". It just depends on the situation. I think I will put the comma in my actual sentence then. Also it is a bit longer than the example sentence and just seems to read better with the comma in. Thanks again.