Comma Splice Podcast

Here is another “quick tip” from the IU Southeast Writing Center

The comma splice is one of the most common punctuation errors in the English language and the one that professors complain about most often.

That is the bad news; the good news is that once you know what a comma splice is, you will be able to find it in your writing.

Very simply put, a comma splice is when you place a comma between two sentences that could stand as complete thoughts on their own.

For example:

Mary loves to try new restaurants, her favorite one so far is The Bristol.

Most times, comma splices happen because the two sentences relate to each other, and the writer recognizes the fact that they need to show connection, so he may try to connect them with just a comma. The writer’s hunch is correct; the sentences do relate and connection should be shown, but if a comma isn’t right, what is?

The most obvious change could be to switch the comma for a period and make them two separate sentences.

For example:

Mary loves to try new restaurants. Her favorite one so far is The Bristol.

This would be grammatically correct, but if they do relate as the two we mentioned do, then it would be best to connect them.

The most common connection for two complete sentences are to place a coordinating conjunction after the comma, usually “and” or “but.” There are a total of seven possible choices for coordinating conjunctions, and they are easy to remember with the acronym FANBOYS, which stands for For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So. Each word in FANBOYS represents one of the possible choices?

So, for example, our sentences could read:

Mary loves to try new restaurants, and her favorite so far is The Bristol.

There are specific reasons why one would choose each of the seven FANBOYS, but usually your ear will help you choose. If you cannot decide, consult a grammar book for a full description.

The second common connection for two complete sentences that relate is to simply replace the comma with a semicolon, which is stronger punctuation than a comma, and is a correct way to connect related, independent sentences.

Our sentence would read the same as the one with the comma splice, but it would have the semicolon where the comma was.

For example:

Mary loves to try new restaurants; her favorite so far is The Bristol.

There are a few other ways to correct a comma splice, but these are the most common. If you have a desire to learn more, come to The Writing Center and let us show you more about how to punctuate sentences correctly.

This has beenanother “quick tip” from the IU Southeast Writing Center

Thanks for listening.