"among others" and punctuation [closed]
I'm confused about the punctuation around the phrase among others. I've come across a comma before, after it, two commas or brackets enclosing the phrase... I know related questions have already been asked, but they don't seem to provide one clear answer for among others exclusively. Can anybody clarify which of these is the most appropriate way (I wouldn't bet on 2 and 3):
The kitchen includes, among others, a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle.
The kitchen includes among others, a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle.
The kitchen includes, among others a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle.
The kitchen includes – among others – a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle.
The kitchen includes (among others) a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle.
Solution 1:
Usages 1, 4, and 5 are correct, and so is the sentence with no punctuation on either side of the phrase "among others". Also, great question! :)
The thing is, any kind of bracketing effect is acceptable. And that is exactly what is done by making use of a pair of commas, brackets, or m-dashes. These are all bracketing devices. So long as the sentence is clear, the lack of any kind of bracketing also works.
2 & 3 do not work. This is about correct/incorrect comma usages. The kind of comma you're trying to use here is the bracketing comma which is used to interject thoughts into a sentence. It should always be used in pairs unless the interjection is at the start (For example, take a look at this sentence.) or the end (Take a look at this sentence, for example.) and the sentence should remain logical after removal of the interjection from the sentence (The kitchen includes a refrigerator, dishwasher, oven, and an electric kettle).
Had you used a comma for some other purposes, say for listing (then it's called a listing comma), then the rules above about pairing and logical sense would not apply. There are 4 uses of a comma: listing, joining, bracketing, or for removing redundancy. This is all according to a punctuation guide by Penguin.
P.S. The commenter is right. We need to change it to "among other things".