Can cleveref be made to use the Oxford comma for multiple citations?

Question

Simple question: Is there a simple way to get cleveref to use the Oxford comma?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[standard]{ntheorem}
\usepackage{cleveref}

\begin{document}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:roses}
  Roses are red.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:violets}
  Violets are blue.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}
  42.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition} \label{thm:orchids}
  Orchids are orchid.
\end{proposition}

\begin{theorem}
  There exist flowers in at least three different colors.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
  Immediate from \cref{thm:roses,thm:violets,thm:orchids}.
\end{proof}

\end{document}

Output

Should say “propositions 1, 2, and 4.”

Just wanted to make a note that the Oxford Comma is more generally known as a Serial Comma. Mostly noted for search engine indexing. — Patrick, Feb 20 '14 at 16:12
Well, it looks like Google knows they're synonyms, but thanks :-) — Luke Maurer, Feb 20 '14 at 20:06

karlkoeller · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-20T04:59:27.810

If you define this new command

\newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and\nobreakspace}

you will get Oxford comma everywhere you use multiple references like those.

MWE:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[standard]{ntheorem}
\usepackage{cleveref}

\newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and\nobreakspace}

\begin{document}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:roses}
  Roses are red.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:violets}
  Violets are blue.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}
  42.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition} \label{thm:orchids}
  Orchids are orchid.
\end{proposition}

\begin{theorem}
  There exist flowers in at least three different colors.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
  Immediate from \cref{thm:roses,thm:violets,thm:orchids}.
\end{proof}

\end{document}

Output:

enter image description here

ADDENDUM

If you were wondering why you have to use \newcommand instead of renewcommand, this is why.

cleveref defines, at the beginning of the document, a lot of commands depending on the language. If you don't specify any language, english is loaded. This is the relevant part of cleveref.sty:

\DeclareOption{english}{%
  \AtBeginDocument{%
    ....
    \def\creflastconjunction@preamble{ and\nobreakspace}%
    ....

Also, you can find the following lines

\AtBeginDocument{%
  ....
  \@ifundefined{creflastconjunction}{%
    \let\creflastconjunction\creflastconjunction@preamble%
  }{%
  ....
  }%

which, at the beginning of the document, assign to \creflastconjunction the meaning of \creflastconjunction@preamble when it has not been defined yet.

In other words, \creflastconjunction gets defined only after \begin{document}. In fact, if you try to put the line

\newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and\nobreakspace}

inside the document, you will get an error. In this case, you would have written

\renewcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and\nobreakspace}

Does \newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and~} work the same? In other words, can you replace the \nobreakspace with a ~? — MSC, Jan 24 '17 at 22:22
Is it possible to restrict this change of last conjunction just to English language (and do something else when \cref is issued in the context where the language is, say, German)? — , Jan 31 '20 at 22:01
As I wondered about this: with just two references (\cref{thm:roses,thm:violets}) this correctly expands to propositions 1 and 2, without the extra comma. — Thom Wiggers, Nov 30 '22 at 13:25

score 11 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 20:22

11

Simple answer: You can use

\newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and~}

From the manual:

\creflastconjunction is used between the penultimate and final cross-reference in a list of more than two [pg. 12, at least for the 2012-03-07 version of the manual I have]

Redoing your example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage\[standard\]{ntheorem}
\usepackage{cleveref}

\newcommand{\creflastconjunction}{, and~}

\begin{document}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:roses}
  Roses are red.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:violets}
  Violets are blue.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}
  42.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition} \label{thm:orchids}
  Orchids are orchid.
\end{proposition}

\begin{theorem}
  There exist flowers in at least three different colors.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
  Immediate from \cref{thm:roses,thm:violets,thm:orchids}.
\end{proof}

\end{document}

The compiled example, saying "Immediate from propositions 1, 2, and 4."

answered Feb 19 '14 at 20:22

Antal Spector-Zabusky

13,147

1

This is already in my answer... – karlkoeller Feb 19 '14 at 20:22
Shouldn't that be \renewcommand? – Luke Maurer Feb 19 '14 at 20:23
@LukeMaurer: You'd think so, but surprisingly not. – Antal Spector-Zabusky Feb 19 '14 at 20:23
So cleveref is actually checking for the existence of that macro? Weird. *shrug* – Luke Maurer Feb 19 '14 at 20:24
@karlkoeller: So it is! I guess great minds think alike; I must have started writing my answer while you were finishing writing yours. – Antal Spector-Zabusky Feb 19 '14 at 20:25
Plus for referring the manual. – Sveinung Feb 19 '14 at 21:36
Is it possible to restrict this change of last conjunction just to English language (and do something else when \cref is issued in the context where the language is, say, German)? – Jan 31 '20 at 22:01
@Just_A_Man That’s a good question – you should ask it as a full-fledged one! I’m afraid I don’t know the answer myself, though. – Antal Spector-Zabusky Jan 31 '20 at 22:03

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 19 '14 at 20:12

8

You can use \crefmultiformat:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[standard]{ntheorem}
\usepackage{cleveref}

\crefmultiformat{proposition}{propositions~#2#1#3}%
  { and~#2#1#3}{, #2#1#3}{, and~#2#1#3}

\begin{document}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:roses}
  Roses are red.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}\label{thm:violets}
  Violets are blue.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition}
  42.
\end{proposition}

\begin{proposition} \label{thm:orchids}
  Orchids are orchid.
\end{proposition}

\begin{theorem}
  There exist flowers in at least three different colors.
\end{theorem}
\begin{proof}
  Immediate from \cref{thm:roses,thm:violets,thm:orchids}.
  Immediate from \cref{thm:roses,thm:violets}.
\end{proof}

\end{document}

enter image description here

answered Feb 19 '14 at 20:12

Gonzalo Medina

505,128

Aha! It's a little piecemeal (will need to repeat for different theorem sets), but it should work. Thanks. – Luke Maurer Feb 19 '14 at 20:14
1

@LukeMaurer see karlkoeller's answer for a solution affecting all reference types. – Gonzalo Medina Feb 19 '14 at 20:23
Out of curiosity, why the #2#1#3 instead of #1#2#3? – Sean Allred Feb 20 '14 at 04:14
Is it possible to restrict this change of last conjunction just to English language (and do something else when \cref is issued in the context where the language is, say, German)? – Jan 31 '20 at 22:03

Can cleveref be made to use the Oxford comma for multiple citations?

3 Answers3

ADDENDUM

Linked