comma or semicolon in list: my parents, John and Carol; and

[jess oh seven]

Should I use a semi-colon or a comma in the following list?

...the following people... : my parents, John and Carol; and my friends Heather and Martin.

I'm thinking it should be a colon since parents and John and Carol are connected, not separate, but I'm not sure.

Thanks!

 

[vachecow]

I think it should be a comma because John and Carol is an appositive modifying parents

 

[Orange Blossom]

I agree that it should be a comma. I would also suggest that to avoid confusion for your reader to change the order of the list. This is a tactic I frequently use.

...the following people... : my parents, John and Carol; and my friends Heather and Martin.

Here is how I would reorder the list:

my friends Heather and Martin, and my parents, John and Carol.

Orange Blossom

 

[vachecow]

Here is how I would reorder the list:

my friends Heather and Martin, and my parents, John and Carol.

Shouldn't it be,

my friends, Heather and Martin, and my parents, John and Carol.
?

 

[SwissPete]

my parents, John and Carol, as well as my friends, Heather and Martin would be my choice. It also avoids putting your friends before your parents.

 

[GreenWhiteBlue]

The semi-colon is not correct, but the comma is ambiguous. You might try parentheses:

The following people: my parents (John and Carol), and my friends Heather and Martin.

 

[Orange Blossom]

Shouldn't it be,

my friends, Heather and Martin, and my parents, John and Carol.
?

Good point, since Heather and Martin are also appositives of my friends. In that case I would use a semi-colon after Martin. Come to think of it, if the list weren't reversed and the comma were inserted after friends, I'd still use a semi-colon. Using a semi-colon instead of a comma is done to eliminate ambiguity and it is preferable to using parenthesis.

my parents, John and Carol; and my friends, Heather and Martin.

or

my friends, Heather and Martin; and my parents, John and Carol.

Orange Blossom