enumeration comma; Chinese serial comma
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesnoun
enumeration comma; a punctuation mark (、) indicating a pause between parallel items in a sentence
formalUsed exclusively in Chinese punctuation to separate items in a list, similar to the English comma in lists like 'A, B, and C.' It is one of the unique marks in Chinese punctuation.
Wǒ我
xǐ喜
huān欢
chī吃
píng苹
guǒ果
、
xiāng香
jiāo蕉
、
jú橘
zi子
。
I like to eat apples, bananas, and oranges.
Zhè这
ge个
fáng房
jiān间
xū需
yào要
zhǔn准
bèi备
zhuō桌
zi子
、
yǐ椅
zi子
、
chuáng床
。
This room needs to be prepared with a table, chairs, and a bed.
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Tā他
mǎi买
le了
bǐ笔
、
zhǐ纸
、
běn本
zi子
děng等
wén文
jù具
。
He bought stationery such as pens, paper, and notebooks.
Dùn顿
hào号
yòng用
yú于
fēn分
gé隔
bìng并
liè列
de的
cí词
yǔ语
huò或
duǎn短
yǔ语
。
The enumeration comma is used to separate parallel words or short phrases.