The Comma: Abused and Misused
written by Alice Jansing
Ah, the comma. Of all the punctuation marks in English, this one is perhaps the most abused and misused. And it’s no wonder. There are lots of rules about comma usage, and often the factors that determine whether you should use one are quite subtle. But fear not! In this book, you’ll find guidance for the trickiest comma questions.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
8
Reads
386
Comma Splices
Chapter 5
When you want to join two independent clauses, you need a conjunction or a semicolon. A comma alone isn’t strong enough to join them. This kind of mistake is called a comma splice.
Incorrect: We were out of milk, I went to the store.
You can fix a comma splice by adding a conjunction or changing the comma to a semicolon.
Correct: We were out of milk, so I went to the store.
Correct: We were out of milk; I went to the store.
Or, you can simply write the two independent clauses as separate sentences.
Correct: We were out of milk. I went to the store.
Incorrect: We were out of milk, I went to the store.
You can fix a comma splice by adding a conjunction or changing the comma to a semicolon.
Correct: We were out of milk, so I went to the store.
Correct: We were out of milk; I went to the store.
Or, you can simply write the two independent clauses as separate sentences.
Correct: We were out of milk. I went to the store.
