Eighteenth century punctuation did not follow the conventions that we practice today. No one was correcting these writers back in their day there was, in fact, nothing to correct. The New Jersey job was obtained, I contrived a copperplate press for it.… Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversation, 1738 Why, sure Betty, thou art bewitcht, this Cream is burnt too.

And by 'older' we mean really old:Īs to the old one, I knew not what to do with him, he was so fierce I durst not go into the pit to him…. In fact, they seem to be survivors from an older, looser form of punctuation. (longer) The hat does not fit, and it's so tight that my brain hurts when I wear it.Ĭomma splices are not a new phenomenon.

The hat does not fit because it's too tight.

With a comma splice: The hat does not fit, it's too tight. If the second clause is long, you can also keep the comma before the conjunction.) Examples of each solution You can 1) make each clause its own sentence, 2) you can join the clauses with a semicolon instead of a comma, or 3) or you can replace the comma with a conjunction like and, but, because, or although. To avoid a comma splice you can do one of several things.

(Quick review: an independent clause is a part of a sentence that has its own subject and verb and could be used by itself as a simple sentence but is instead part of a larger sentence.) Comma splices are a subspecies of run-on sentence a run-on sentence is when two independent clauses are joined without the correct conjunction or punctuation. So what is it exactly? A comma splice is a joining of two independent clauses with nothing but a comma. 'The hat does not fit, it's too tight.' Though regarded as an error in formal writing assignments, it can be carried off successfully in informal writing. A comma splice is the joining of two independent clauses with a comma, e.g.

Comma splice sentence