Including But Not Limited To Sentence Example: 12 Clear Uses

The phrase “including but not limited to” means the items you list are examples, not a complete or exhaustive list — the category stays open to other items of the same kind. A clear sentence example is: “The fee covers damage such as scratches, dents, or broken glass, including but not limited to damage caused by pets.” Here, the writer names specific examples while preserving the right to include other kinds of damage. The phrase is common in contracts, policies, and everyday writing where completeness matters, though many style guides consider it wordy and prefer a simpler “including.”

What It Means

“Including but not limited to” is a transitional phrase that introduces examples while signaling that the list is not exhaustive. “Including” means “as an example of” or “part of a larger group.” “But not limited to” adds an explicit disclaimer: the items named are illustrative, not the full set. Merriam-Webster defines “include” as to take in or comprise as part of a whole — which is why “including” alone already suggests a non-exhaustive list.

The phrase has two jobs depending on context.

In legal and policy writing, it prevents loopholes. A lease that says “pets, including but not limited to dogs and cats, are prohibited” cannot be argued to allow ferrets or parrots, because the wording signals that other animals count too. This drafting technique is sometimes called an “open-ended” or “non-exhaustive” list.

In everyday writing, the phrase adds flexibility. A teacher’s syllabus might say “assignments include but are not limited to essays, presentations, and group projects,” meaning students may see other formats. Outside legal contexts, however, the phrase is often considered redundant, since “including” already implies that the list is partial.

Plainly stated: “including” opens the door, and “but not limited to” props it open on purpose.

A Short Worked Example

Imagine you manage a gym and write, “Membership fees cover access to equipment including but not limited to treadmills and free weights.” A member later asks to use the rowing machines for free. Because the list was open-ended, you can reasonably say the rowers fall within “equipment.” If you had written “access to treadmills and free weights,” the member could argue those are the only covered machines. One added phrase closes that gap.

When To Use It

Use the phrase when the cost of leaving a list open is low but the risk of an incomplete list is high — or the reverse. In other words, use it when you genuinely cannot or should not enumerate everything.

Appropriate contexts include:

• Contracts and leases, where ambiguity can be exploited.
• Policies and rules, where you want flexibility to address new situations.
• Job descriptions and syllabi, where duties or assignments may evolve.
• Warranties and insurance terms, where covered events are hard to list fully.
• Any document where you want to signal “and similar things” without rewriting later.

General style advice leans against overusing it. Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries treats “include” as a verb meaning to have something as part of a whole, and plain “including” already conveys an open list in most writing. Legal drafters often keep the full phrase anyway, precisely because a court may interpret plain “including” — or “such as” — more narrowly in a dispute. In casual writing, a simple “such as” or “including” usually reads better.

If you are drafting a contract or policy, have a qualified professional review the final wording; this article explains general usage, not legal advice.

Common Mistakes

Most errors involve punctuation, redundancy, or sloppy parallelism. Here are the ones to watch.

Comma Errors

The biggest mistake is adding a comma after “including.” Write “including but not limited to” with no commas inside the phrase.

• Correct: Items, including but not limited to tools, must be stored.
• Incorrect: Items including, but not limited to, tools must be stored.

Some writers argue for the comma pair when the phrase is parenthetical, but in running text, the clean version above is safest and most common in contracts.

Redundancy

“Including but not limited to” already means “not exhaustive.” Writing “including but not limited to, etc.” or “including but not limited to and so on” doubles the same idea. Pick one.

Mixing With Other Lists

Do not combine it with “such as” or “for example.” “Such as, including but not limited to, X” stacks two list markers on top of each other. Choose one.

Breaking Parallel Structure

Keep list items in the same grammatical form. “Tasks include but are not limited to filing, answering phones, and to schedule meetings” is off because the last item breaks the pattern. Use “scheduling meetings.”

Overusing It

In a memo or email, three uses of the phrase is two too many. Vary with “such as,” “for instance,” or “and similar items” when the stakes are low.

Forgetting the Singular/Plural Match

Watch subject-verb agreement when the phrase appears mid-sentence. In “Equipment, including but not limited to computers, is required,” the verb “is” follows “equipment,” not “computers.”

Key Takeaways

• “Including but not limited to” signals that a list contains examples, not every item, keeping the category open.
• A clean example: “The fee covers damage, including but not limited to scratches and dents.”
• No commas go inside the phrase; write it as a single unit.
• It prevents loopholes in contracts, policies, and warranties by blocking the “that’s the whole list” argument.
• Avoid pairing it with “etc.,” “such as,” or “for example,” and keep list items parallel.
• In light everyday writing, plain “including” or “such as” is usually enough; save the full phrase for when completeness genuinely matters.