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Comma splices, a la Shmoop. Sundance the German shepherd is a very smart

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dog. She knows how to make a mean latte… comma…

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she also can solve basic math problems.

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While that last sentence about Sundance the coffee-making, math-loving dog may sound okay…

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…it doesn’t look okay when written out, because it’s been struck by an errant comma

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splice. A comma splice occurs when a comma is used

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to put two independent clauses without a conjunction… together.

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The independent clauses “She knows how to make a mean latte”…

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…and “She can also solve basic math problems”…

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…are actually two separate sentences. They don’t need a comma to join them…

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…which is why the sentence “She knows how to make a mean latte…comma…she also

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can solve basic math problems”, is grammatically incorrect.

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Comma splices are very easy to fix. Say we have the grammatically messed-up sentence,

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“Sundance went to the park…comma…she gave tax advice to the other dogs.”

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If we nix the comma for a period, so that we have two sentences…

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…“Sundance went to the park…period”…

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…and “She gave tax advice to the other dogs…period”…

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…then our comma splice problem is solved. There’s another way to fix a comma splice.

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If the two independent clauses in a spliced sentence are closely related to each other…

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…then we can ditch the comma, not for a period, but for a semicolon…

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…because the purpose of a semicolon is to bring two complete sentences together when

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no coordinating conjunction is present. So, for example, say we have a comma-spliced

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sentence like, “Sundance’s owner makes Sundance breakfast every morning…comma…the

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dog likes her eggs scrambled.”

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The two independent clauses in this sentence deal with the same subject: Sundance’s breakfast.

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If we replace the comma in this sentence with a semicolon, we end up with, “Sundance’s

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owner makes Sundance breakfast every morning…semicolon…the dog likes her eggs scrambled.”

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The comma splice is gone, replaced with an artfully deployed semicolon.

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Or what if we have the comma-spliced sentence, “Sundance likes long walks on the beach…comma…she

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always searches for seashells to add to her collection.”

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Again, we have two independent clauses that are closely related to each other.

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If we replace the comma in this sentence with a semicolon, we get, “Sundance likes long

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walks on the beach…semicolon…she always searches for seashells to add to her collection.”

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The comma splice is no more, eradicated by the grammatically correct semicolon.

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Comma splices are easy to avoid. If a sentence contains two independent clauses…

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…but has no conjunction to bring the clauses together…

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…then a period or a semicolon is needed, not a comma.

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Now, Sundance would like to know how we take our coffee. And would we care for a biscuit?

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