Grammar bite: Comma splices

Comma splices are a common grammatical mistake. Avoiding them improves readability and demonstrates language mastery. A comma splice happens when you join two independent clauses (subject and verb + subject and verb) together with a comma instead of a comma and conjunction, semicolon, or colon. Here is an example: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies, green candies were the second most-preferred.” You have two clauses that could be sentences by themselves separated by a comma. When I first read this sentence, the comma told me to expect a list. When there was no list, I had to stop and re-read to figure out the meaning. You do not want your reader to have to work hard to understand you. To fix this,

• DO THIS: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies, but green candies were the second most-preferred.” "But" is functioning as a conjunction connecting two independent clauses, so a comma is required.

• OR DO THIS: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies; green candies were the second most-preferred.” A semi-colon can be used to connect two independent clauses without a conjunction (and, but, etc.).

• OR DO THIS: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies; however, green candies were the second most-preferred.” "However" is an adverbial conjunction, which is different than a "regular" conjunction. It is punctuated with a semicolon and comma.

• DON’T DO THIS: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies, however green candies were the second most-preferred.” Remember, "however" is an adverbial conjunction, which is different than a "regular" conjunction. It is punctuated with a semicolon and comma.

• DON'T DO THIS: “Researchers indicated that participants preferred red candies, however, green candies were the second most-preferred.” "However" can be punctuated like this when it is non-essential in the middle of a sentence. For example, "She was, however, late to the party." In our example, "however" is connecting two independent clauses, so it needs a semi-colon and comma.