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Which of the following sentences is correct?
In other words, do I need the comma before the word "team"?

By using this plan, we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great team.

By using this plan, we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great, team.

Also, what is the grammar term for this? Is this called "conjunction"?

Nuno
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    I don't see why you need any commas in the above. If you must have them, skip the first and keep the latter two. (And I suppose someone will ask why I placed a comma in that sentence.) – Hot Licks Oct 19 '14 at 16:07

4 Answers4

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From Rules for Grammar Usage:

Use a comma to set off parenthetical elements, as in "The Founders Bridge, which spans the Connecticut River, is falling down." By "parenthetical element," we mean a part of a sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of that sentence.

In other words,

"We are keeping a limited team."

"By using this plan, we are keeping a limited team."

"By using this plan, we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great, team."

Community
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Susan Carlsen
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The second version is correct. All three adjectives apply to the same noun, but in the first version 'strong' and 'great' look as though they're closer to it than 'limited'. Comma-ing off a phrase works as long as that phrase holds together and is at least slightly separate from the rest of the sentence.

The very first comma is unnecessary though! I would say:

By using this plan we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great, team.

A conjunction is a word joining together two phrases or clauses, such as 'yet' in your example.

Rand al'Thor
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By using this plan, we are keeping a limited yet strong and great team.

This is how the sentence should read.

The word "by" in the beginning of the sentence is an indicator of an introductory clause, which tells you to use a comma after plan.

Commas are not subjective. There are rules to follow when using them accordingly. There is no other need for a comma for the rest of this sentence.

We are keeping a limited yet strong and great team.

This sentence is an independent clause. Using a comma anywhere else in this sentence will change that and will also change the meaning of the sentence!

You can't place a comma after yet because strong and great team is not a complete thought or independent clause. If you place a comma after great, you are then conveying that you are speaking to the team.

MA in English. Class dismissed.

haha
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chris
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    Your introductory clause is a phrase, as the subject 'we' is outside it. Regardless, the use of a comma is not governed by 'introductoryness' of the element, but by other properties such as its function and length. A comma is not required if the introductory material is short - less than 5 words is a guide. In the given example the introductory element is 4 words so the comma is optional. The 'yet great and strong' element is parenthetical, and should be seperated out by commas. In short, Hot Licks nailed it in his comment. – Roaring Fish Feb 07 '16 at 04:28
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    Why can't "yet strong and great" be a parenthetical element (set off by commas)? (Not a rhetorical question.) – Peter Mortensen Jul 21 '19 at 14:00
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X By using this plan, we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great team.

X By using this plan, we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great, team.

X By using this plan we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great, team.

X By using this plan we are keeping a limited, yet strong and great team.

o By using this plan, we are keeping a limited yet strong and great team.

The correct answer is black and white. Putting a comma in front of "team" is so wrong and makes no sense. The comma after "plan" cannot be removed either, and there is no need to put a comma in front of "yet" because "strong and great team" is not a complete sentence.

Meg Jones
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