For Those Who Want To Pass the CSET Know Clauses

Comma Splice

Comma splices join two complete sentences (independent clauses) with a comma.

You can spot a comma splice by examining the comma in the sentence. Compare the clauses it separates; if they can act as complete sentences (independent clauses), you have caught a comma splice error.

Example:

John went to the store, he needed to buy milk for dinner.

This sentence is incorrect because “John went to the store” and “he needed to buy milk for dinner” are both complete sentences (independent clauses). A comma alone cannot join two sentences.

The Five Ways To Fix A Comma Splice

1) Separate the two clauses into two sentences by replacing the comma with a period.

Example:

John went to the store. He needed to buy milk for dinner.

2) Replace the comma with a semi-colon.

Example:

John went to the store; he needed to buy milk for dinner.

3) Replace the comma with a co-ordinating conjunction (and, or, nor, but, for, yet, so).

Keep in mind that each of these words implies a relationship, so be careful that you retain the meaning of the sentence when you use these conjunctions. Note also that usually you need to place a comma before the conjunction.

Example:

John went to the store, for he needed to buy milk for dinner.