Intl.ListFormat.prototype.format()

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since April 2021.

The format() method of Intl.ListFormat instances returns a string with a language-specific representation of the list.

Try it

const vehicles = ["Motorcycle", "Bus", "Car"];

const formatter = new Intl.ListFormat("en", {
  style: "long",
  type: "conjunction",
});
console.log(formatter.format(vehicles));
// Expected output: "Motorcycle, Bus, and Car"

const formatter2 = new Intl.ListFormat("de", {
  style: "short",
  type: "disjunction",
});
console.log(formatter2.format(vehicles));
// Expected output: "Motorcycle, Bus oder Car"

const formatter3 = new Intl.ListFormat("en", { style: "narrow", type: "unit" });
console.log(formatter3.format(vehicles));
// Expected output: "Motorcycle Bus Car"

Syntax

js
format(list)

Parameters

list

An iterable object, such as an Array, containing strings. Omitting it results in formatting the empty array, which could be slightly confusing, so it is advisable to always explicitly pass a list.

Return value

A language-specific formatted string representing the elements of the list.

Note: Most of the time, the formatting returned by format() is consistent. However, the output may vary between implementations, even within the same locale — output variations are by design and allowed by the specification. It may also not be what you expect. For example, the string may use non-breaking spaces or be surrounded by bidirectional control characters. You should not compare the results of format() to hardcoded constants.

Examples

Using format

The following example shows how to create a List formatter using the English language.

js
const list = ["Motorcycle", "Bus", "Car"];

console.log(
  new Intl.ListFormat("en-GB", { style: "long", type: "conjunction" }).format(
    list,
  ),
);
// Motorcycle, Bus and Car

console.log(
  new Intl.ListFormat("en-GB", { style: "short", type: "disjunction" }).format(
    list,
  ),
);
// Motorcycle, Bus or Car

console.log(
  new Intl.ListFormat("en-GB", { style: "narrow", type: "unit" }).format(list),
);
// Motorcycle Bus Car

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2025 Internationalization API Specification
# sec-Intl.ListFormat.prototype.format

Browser compatibility

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See also