Rhetoric and Composition/Comma Splice
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[edit] What is a comma splice?
"Comma splice" is the term commonly used to describe two independent clauses (basically, clauses that express a complete thought and could stand on their own as full sentences) joined by a comma rather than other accepted punctuation approaches, such as a comma with a coordinating conjunction, a period, or a semi-colon. Like the run-on sentence, they may have a coordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, for, so yet) between them but not the comma that needs to accompany the coordinating conjunction when separating two independent clauses.
[edit] Examples of comma spliced sentences
- Every day, millions of children go to daycare with millions of other kids, there is no guarantee that none of them are harboring infectious conditions.
- Many daycares have strict rules about sick children needing to stay away until they are no longer infectious, enforcing those rules can be very difficult.
- Daycare providers often undergo extreme pressure to accept a sick child "just this once," the parent has no other care options and cannot miss work.
[edit] Fixing comma spliced sentences
Once you find a comma spliced sentence and notice where the two independent clauses are "spliced," you can then decide on how best to separate the clauses:
- You can make two complete sentences by inserting a period. This is the strongest level of separation.
- You can use a semicolon between the two clauses if they are of equal importance; this allows your your reader to consider the points together.
- You can use a semicolon with a transition word to indicate a specific relation between the two clauses;however, use this sparingly.
- You can use a coordinating conjunction following the comma, and this also will indicate a relationship.
- Or, you can add a word to one clause to make it dependent.
[edit] Examples of fixed comma spliced sentences
Notice how the sentences above have been punctuated in the following examples.
- Every day, millions of children go to daycare with millions of other kids. There is no guarantee that none of them are harboring infectious conditions.
- Many daycares have strict rules about sick children needing to stay away until they are no longer infectious; however, enforcing those rules can be very difficult.
- Many daycares have strict rules about sick children needing to stay away until they are no longer infectious, but enforcing those rules can be very difficult.
- Daycare providers often undergo extreme pressure to accept a sick child "just this once" because the parent has no other care options and cannot miss work.
Learn more under "commas with two independent clauses" at Rhetoric and Composition/Commas.
