RUN-ON: Tony is dishonest he steals data for a living.Īs you can see in these two sentences, comma splices and run-on sentences are similar
Ideas, often leading to sentence-level errors like these:ĬOMMA SPLICE: Tony is dishonest, he steals data for a living. To essay, writers often become lax in clearly indicating where one complete idea endsĪnd where the next begins, as well as how they perceive the relationship between those (In all examples, subjects are bold and verbs are italicized.)Īlthough this seems pretty straightforward, in the heat of unloading ideas from brain Transmission of thought from writer to reader.Ī comma splice occurs when only a comma separates two independent sentences.Ī run-on (or fused sentence) occurs when no punctuation at all separates independent How do you feel about comma splices? Let us know in the comments.Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences Understanding & Identifying Comma Splices and Run-OnsĬomma splices and run-ons are major sentence errors that interfere with efficient Believe it or not, people pay attention to those things and proper punctuation matters in publication. However, as Grammar Girl so eloquently states in her blog condemning the comma splice, you are not Cormac McCarthy.ĭo not arbitrarily throw the rules of grammar to the wind. Is It Ever Okay to Use a Comma Splice?įor those who plead the case for creative use of structure and punctuation, I understand where you are coming from. When you have three other perfectly acceptable and grammatically correct methods of writing a sentence (or two), there is no excuse for a comma splice. His pursuer's headlights shone in his rear-view mirror. Louis stomped the accelerator into the floor of his car. Louis stomped the accelerator into the floor of the car his pursuer's headlights shone in his rear-view mirror.Īnd finally, if your head is spinning from my use of the words “conjunction” and “semicolon,” just make two good sentences out of one bad one. Or if you wanted to get fancy, you could add a semicolon to the sentence. Louis stomped the accelerator into the floor of the car, and his pursuer's headlights shone in his rear-view mirror. If you don't want to separate sentences, use a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, etc.) to connect the two clauses. Let me show you some examples to easily fix this grammatical error. You need a coordinating conjunction with the comma or take the comma out and use a semicolon. If you want them together in a single sentence, then you need a little more than a single comma. Notice how the comma in the sentence could be a period-meaning each clause is an independent sentence and could stand alone. If you were annoyed by the lack of a conjunction, then congratulations! You found the comma splice. Louis stomped the accelerator into the floor of the car, his pursuer's headlights shone in his rear-view mirror. It pains me to write this, but here is a comma splice in action: What is a comma splice and how can you fix it? Take a look at today's article. We're venturing into a realm where writers bend the rules of grammar in the name of creativity, much to the frustration of editors.
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