Comma Splices

Comma splices are one of the most common sentence-level errors among intro college writers. Is this you? Maybe! Don’t worry: it’s totally fixable.

Comma splices happen when you have two INDEPENDENT clauses that you want to put into one sentence. You can do that, but you have to do it carefully. When all you do is smack a comma between them, nope, that’s not gonna work.

Commas are fantastic! The things they are best at are:

1. Separating items in a list, like this:
   • I forgot my homework, my raincoat, my lunch, and my .
2. Separating DEPENDENT clauses from independent ones, like this:
   • Because the house was on fire, I decided not to go back for my homework. [The stuff before the comma is a dependent clause; the stuff after is an independent clause.]
3. Going BEFORE A CONJUNCTION when you use a conjunction to separate two independent clauses, like this:
   • The house was on fire, so I decided not to go back for my homework. [So is a conjunction here, linking two independent clauses.]
4. Otherwise setting off phrases, especially non-restrictive phrases and appositives, like this:
   • My homework, which the dog did not eat, is unfortunately unavailable at this time.

Lots more about commas here.

What you CAN’T do with commas is connect two independent clauses. I made a ridiculous video about this during quarantine, starring the picture of Alexander Hamilton my friends have on their wall for unclear reasons. You can watch it here:

…or, if you are opposed to false mustaches, you can read this post on Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma-splice/

The bottom line is this:

1. A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
2. An independent clause is a clause that can be its own sentence, like “The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm” or “The crocodiles are angry.”
3. A clause that CAN’T be its own sentence is a dependent clause. Like, “because I once cried my eyes out over The Good Fight season ending.” See how that feels unfinished?

OKAY. So a comma splice happens when you join two independent clauses with a comma, like this:

The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, the crocodiles are angry.

Yeah, no. Don’t do that.

Fix it one of these ways:

• Make two separate sentences:
  • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm. The crocodiles are angry.
• Separate the clauses with a colon or semicolon. (These have slightly different uses. More on that here and here.)
  • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm; the crocodiles are angry.
  • The crocodiles are angry: The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm.
• Join them with a conjunction:
  • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, and the crocodiles are angry.
• Make one a dependent clause (and keep the comma!)
  • Because The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, the crocodiles are angry.

Did you read this far? WOW.

In the comments, please write an example of a comma splice and an example of how to fix it.

Still lost? Try this Khan Academy video: