Identifying Comma Splices
Two ways to proofread your essay for comma splices
- To spot-check suspect sentences: rewrite a sentence you think might be a comma splice as a yes/no question. Can you make just one question out of the sentence? If so, it’s probably not a comma splice. If it needs 2 or more questions to make sense, then some additional punctuation in the original sentence is needed.
- Elliot drinks four liters of water a day, he carries his water bottle with him everywhere.
- If turned into a yes/no question, we would need 2 questions in order for this to make sense: “Does Elliot drink four liters of water a day? Does he carry his water bottle with him everywhere?”
- Because it needs 2 yes/no questions, the original sentence is a comma splice, and needs to be corrected.
- Elliot drinks four liters of water a day, he carries his water bottle with him everywhere.
- To be thorough: skim through your paper, stopping at every comma. Look at what comes before the comma, and then what comes after it. Are both sides complete sentences on their own? (In other words, could you also put a period in that spot?) If so, you’ve found a comma splice.
- D’Andre, my science lab partner, is considering running for class president, I think he’d make a wonderful candidate.
- Stopping at each of the commas, the first two don’t contain a full sentence before them. The third one, however, does have a complete thought on both sides, and so indicates we’ve found a comma splice.
- D’Andre, my science lab partner, is considering running for class president, I think he’d make a wonderful candidate.
