One space.

Thanks for your comment. A writer or publishing style should use or omit the serial comma consistently, which aids in clarity. In cases where using a serial comma may introduce ambiguity, we prefer to recast the sentence.

Great question! When only the last item in a series contains commas, you do not need to use serial semicolons, as long as no ambiguity results.

Allison, you can find information about serial semicolons on p. 70 (3.2.3b) of the 7th edition (2009) of the MLA Handbook. It is not in the 8th edition. You might also point your adviser to this post (this is the official, authorized Web site of MLA style, written and edited by the same team that publishes the Handbook.)

The semicolon is not correct. Consider recasting your sentence: “We sell spirits and various kinds of wine, including Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Pinot Noir.”

Two items do not constitute a series. In most cases you would connect two items with and or or, not with punctuation.

A superscripted note reference belongs after a colon. The first preference should be to place the note reference at the end of a sentence; place it after a colon only when it refers specifically to what precedes preceding the colon and not to what follows it.

Your instinct is correct. Omit a serial comma when using an ampersand. But, generally speaking, use a serial comma in titles.

No punctuation is needed before “The Big Bang Theory” in your sentence.

A comma.

Lily,
In a series that requires semicolons, use the semicolons wherever you’d normally put serial commas. There’s no reason to treat the last semicolon differently from the others.

A colon may be used to introduce a list. You may be interested in another post we published, on using colons: https://style.mla.org/colons-how-to-use-them/.

The eighth edition of the MLA Handbook, published by the MLA, uses serial commas.

That is correct. A serial comma belongs before the last item in a series but not after the last item.

Hi, Ros. Do not use a colon because “The three stages are” is not a complete sentence. The items do not need to be capitalized.

Thanks for your question, Linda. No, you would not use a colon in that example: “written by Linda” would be correct.

Bob, thanks for your question. In the example, “the annual budget” is the first item in the series. Using a colon after that item would make the items that follow subordinate to “the annual budget” (parts or aspects of the annual budget), which is not the intention.

Brenda,
Thanks for noticing that! It was a typo, which we fixed. The post now instructs writers to use a capital letter in those instances.