Wednesday, June 7, 2017

grammaticality - List with different last item with just one "and"

I have no idea how to describe this. I run into this usage all the time in English, and to me it seems wrong, but considering how common it is, I'm wondering if it's actually accepted. Consider the following sentence:




Roger installed windows in offices, lamps in apartments, doors in schools and repaired roofs.



This is a list of three items that Roger installed, and the last phrase ("and repaired roofs") does not belong in the list. As such it would seem that the word "and" is missing before "doors".



Is this wrong English usage? What would be the closest thing to this pattern that would make it correct?

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