... are repeated, the series is divided by commas. The comma stands for, in effect, the word and . The comma before the final item, before and , is often optional, but it is used here to make clear ... across them in your reading, and how to construct them in your own writing. Simple, Compound, and Complex Sentences Simple sentences contain a subject and predicate a topic and a statement about ... meaning and grammatical ambiguity? Implications For Reading What does the above analysis do for us? To find meaning in a sentence, we must break it into meaningful parts, and we must understand...