Use of comma after "etc." at the end of a sentence in American English
Is it correct to use comma after etc., at the end of the sentence in American style of English? Example: Various technologies like Java, Microsoft, Unix, etc.,
"Etc." is used to indicate that only some of the items on a list have been used. Generally, in American English, if "etc." is used in the middle of a sentence, then it is followed by a comma. (Tennis, soccer, baseball, etc., are outdoor games.) However, if this word appears at the end of a sentence, then the period (which is part of "etc.") serves as the final punctuation mark. It should not be followed by a comma. (Being outdoors, we played tennis, soccer, baseball, etc.)
[The above post is a part of the Ask a Question series of posts that will list questions that we are often approached with. You can also visit the Ask a Question page and post your queries that we will try to answer to the best of our abilities at the not-so-earliest possible time.]
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Thanks for the advice. But while writing I often use 'etc' , i wanna avoid using it. In any tech document it wont look nice if we use etc quite often. Can you please suggest me to avoid using 'etc'.