What is a comma splice, and how do I fix it?

Question

A comma splice occurs when a writer connects two independent clauses (complete sentences) with just a comma.

Here is an example: I went to the store, there was a long line.

There are three basic ways to fix this:

1) Replace the comma with a period: I went to the store. There was a long line.

2) If the two sentences are closely related, you could use a semi-colon instead of a period: I went to the store; there was a long line.

3) Use a coordinating conjunction (For, and, nor, but, or, so, yet) along with the comma: I went to the store, yet there was a long line.

Answer 1

A comma splice occurs when you put two complete sentences together into one, and only separate them with a comma-hence, the splice. Imagine mixing your delicious spaghetti with your also delicious but separate salad into one meal, one on top of the other. Instead of doing that, you'd want to separate them. You could do this by putting them on two different plates, or by putting them on different parts of the plate with space in between. With the comma-splice sentence you want to separate the sentences completely with a period, or put space or a boundary between them in the form of a semicolon.

Here is an example of a comma splice:

David likes to play basketball, he plays it all the time.

These are two complete sentences, even though they are about the same topic. How do we know? There is a new subject-HE completing a new action-PLAYS.

So, instead of splicing them with the comma, we can separate them completely (separate plates) with a period.

David likes to play basketball. He plays it all the time.

OR

We can put space between them (same plate, with space between) with a semicolon.

David likes to play basketball; he plays it all the time.

Answer 2

A comma splice occurs when you try to connect to separate sentences with nothing but a comma. For instance, take these two sentences:

1. I like to eat apples.
2. They are crisp and sweet.

There are several correct ways to connect these sentences. We could use a conjunction or a semi-colon, or we could keep them as separate sentences.

1. I like to eat apples, for they are crisp and sweet.
2. I like to eat apples; they are crisp and sweet.
3. I like to eat apples. They are crisp and sweet.

The following example is NOT grammatically correct: I like to eat apples, they are crisp and sweet.

It uses a comma in place of a semi-colon, conjunction, or period. The "sentence" is an example of a comma splice.

Keep in mind that "splicing" means to join or connect two things. So a comma splice implies connecting two objects (in this case, clauses) via a comma!