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-Grammar

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Comma Splices

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Tutorials: Grammar

Identifying and Correcting Comma Splices

The first step in avoiding comma splices and fused sentences is learning to recognize them.

Look carefully at the incorrect sentences below. Notice that each contains two sets of independent clauses, each containing a subject and a predicating verb.  In the fused sentence, no punctuation is geven to indicate where the first clause ends and the second begins.  In the comma splice, a comma indicates the end of the first sentence; however, in most cases, a comma is not sufficient punctuation to join two independent clauses.

FUSED SENTENCE

The author asserts that Adolf Hitler was not clinically insane he was a product of the political events of his time.

COMMA SPLICE

The author asserts that Adolf Hitler was not clinically insane, he was a product of the political events of his time.

In conversation, we would never notice that the independent clauses above are not correctly joined.  But in writing, especially academic and professional writing, incorrect or missing punctuation can confuse readers and call into question the writer’s professional skills.

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