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The printer only works with expensive, blue ink cartridges.

and

He found a tarnished, gold coin on the beach.

Kole
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    What source has indicated that it is incorrect? – Jason Bassford Aug 28 '20 at 19:06
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    The teacher only said the comma was incorrect and asked to explain why.... im lost :( – Kole Aug 28 '20 at 19:09
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    They are not "wrong". They are not idiomatic. – Hot Licks Aug 28 '20 at 19:31
  • They can't be idiomatic because they're writing. The sentences are not incorrect. Their punctuation is wrong because a comma has been used in a place where it should not go. this is strictly about punctuation, not grammar or English. – John Lawler Aug 28 '20 at 21:01
  • Right now, we read that the beach coin was both tarnished and gold, rather than a coin of tarnished gold. The comma replaces and, but the sentence makes more sense without the and. – Yosef Baskin Aug 28 '20 at 21:21
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    A coin of actual gold would not be tarnished. Though often alloyed with other metals gold coins are normally corrosion free. – Elliot Aug 28 '20 at 21:50

1 Answers1

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What is the state of the coin? Is it tarnished and gold (separate adjectives)? or is it tarnished gold (as a conjoined adjectival phrase defining a colour). Either would be acceptable.

But ... a tarnished, gold coin reads like the start of a list of adjectives where - erroneously - no third or following adjectives are given. An example might be ... a tarnished, gold and battered coin. From this viewpoint, the comma in the question is disruptive and unnecessary.

There is a relevant but long (not "relevant, long set") set of answers about the use of commas in listing in Should I put a comma before the last item in a list?

Anton
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