Should there be a comma before “along”?

1

A three-pin plug contains a live cable along which the electrical current enters the appliance, an earth cable that provides a path for the current to flow to the ground in case of a fault, and a neutral cable that completes the circuit.

Should there be a comma before “along”?

Thanks.

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2

Could somebody please help?

Thanks

3

I don’t think so.
The words “ along which the electrical current enters the appliance” describes the function of the live cable in the same way the other cables are described.

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4

As it is not a defining clause like the other clauses, a comma will be necessary. Here you are adding information to ‘a live cable’.

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5

Thanks, Anglophile.

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6

Anytime, @Kohyoongliat!

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7

Here we have three items in a series with the items separated by commas.

  • a live cable along which the electrical current enters the appliance,
  • an earth cable that provides a path for the current to flow to the ground in case of a fault, and
  • a neutral cable that completes the circuit

I think these are all defining clauses as the labels “live”, “earth”, and “neutral” would have no meaning for someone who was reading this to learn about plugs.

If a comma is placed after “cable” in the first item, would we not also need to place a comma after “cable” in the second and third items? And since we have a series of items where there is a comma within an item, wouldn’t we then need to change the original commas to semicolons to avoid confusion?
This additional punctuation doesn’t seem to add clarity.

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8

Thanks, Arinker.