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Robin L. Simmons.
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For Celia
Celia
 Comma
Splices
and

Fused
Sentences
 Know
Know how
how toto identify
identify these
these
two major
two major errors.
errors.

A comma splice looks like this:

Main
Main clause
clause +,+ main
main clause.
clause.

A fused sentence looks like this:

Main
Main clause
clause +Ø+ main
main clause.
clause.
Recognize a main
clause when you
see one:
subject + verb =
complete thought.
In an important piece of writing, comma
splices and fused sentences =

D E A T H ! ! !
Read
Read this
this sample
sample sentence:
sentence:
The
The error
error is
is
here!
here!
Grandma still rides her Harley
motorcycle her toy poodle balances
in a basket between the handlebars.

Adding a comma won’t

help, sweetheart. It will
just make a comma
splice, an equally
terrible error.
 Come on,
Princess,
let’s take a
ride to the
solutions!
Option
Option 1:
1: Fix
Fix the
the error
error with
with aa
period
period and
and aa capital
capital letter
letter..

Grandma still rides her Harley

motorcycle.
motorcycle her
Hertoytoy
poodle
poodle
balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
 Let’s fix the
errors that follow!
Use a period
and a capital
letter.
1. While Oreo gnawed the corner
of a shoe, Skeeter shredded a
roll of toilet paper,
paper. the
Thedogs
dogs
love when we have forgotten
to close the master bedroom
door.
2. A bucket catches water under
the leaky ceiling,
ceiling.Annette
Annette
wishes she had trimmed the
big oak tree before the rotten
limb crashed through the roof.
3. Freddie’s car is a mess,
mess. she
She
has overdue library books piled
on the front seat, and she uses
the floor as a trashcan for her
frequent lunches at fast food
restaurants.
4. On a busy Saturday night,
Andre sweated in the hot
restaurant kitchen
kitchen.asAs
hehe
assembled pizzas, he
dreamed of one day having
his own cooking show on the
Food Network.
Option
Option 2: 2: Fix
Fix the
the error
error with
with aa
comma
comma and and aa coordinating
coordinating
conjunction: and
conjunction: and,, but
but,, for
for,, nor
nor,,
or
or,, so or yet
so,, or yet..

Grandma still rides her Harley

motorcycle,
motorcycle her
andtoyher
poodle
toy poodle
balances in a basket between the
handlebars.
 Let’s try some!
Use and, but,
for, nor, or, so,
or yet to fix the
errors that follow.
1. Darren scooped seven
tablespoons of sugar into his
coffee, then
coffee, and he
then
splashed
he splashed
cream into the cup and stirred
the concoction.
2. We suspected that Tahoe had
tipped over the trash
trash,he
for he
flattened his ears and curled
his tail between his legs as we
cleaned the kitchen floor.
3. Butterflies never visited the
backyard,Lawana
backyard, so Lawana
planted
planted
an assortment of flowers to
an assortment
entice them with
of sweet
flowersnectar.
to
entice them with sweet nectar.
4. Serena searched every corner
of her bedroom
bedroom,she
butcould
she
could
not find
nother
find
math
her book
math to
book
to study
study forfor
thethe
final
final
exam.
exam.
 Option
Option 3:
3: Fix
Fix the
the error
error
with a semicolon
with a semicolon ((;;).
).
 Use sparingly—three or four times per
essay.
 Don’t capitalize after the semicolon
unless the word is a proper noun, one
that is always capitalized.
 When you are writing by hand, make
sure that the semicolon has good
posture. Locate the dot right above the
comma.
 Look
Look at
at our
our sample:
sample:

Grandma still rides her Harley

motorcycle;
motorcycle her
hertoytoy
poodle
poodle
balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
 Fix the errors
that follow—this
time with
semicolons!
1. Smoke billowed from the
hot grill
grill;thick
thick
pork
pork
chops
chops
lay on a plate, waiting for
Uncle Rick to cook them.
2. Laurie flashed a big
smile;we
smile wecringed
cringedatatthe
the
spinach stuck to her front
tooth.
3. Jiggling his foot, Carlos sat
in the waiting room,
room;he
he
dreaded the shot of
Novocain required to fill his
cavity.
4. Pushing and grunting,
Tyrone tried to budge the
heavy refrigerator,
refrigerator;finally
finally,
he decided just to paint
around it, leaving a
rectangle of dirty beige
behind the appliance.
 Option
Option 4:
4: Fix
Fix the
the error
error with
with a
a
subordinate
subordinate conjunction
conjunction..
 after  since
 although  so [that implied], so that
 as  than
 because  that
 before  though
 even though  unless
 if, even if  when, whenever
 in order that  where, wherever, whereas
 once  whether
 provided that  while
 Look
Look at
at our
our sample:
sample:

When Grandma
Grandma rides her
rides
Harley
her Harley
motorcycle,her
motorcycle
motorcycle while
hertoytoy
her
poodle
poodle
toy poodle
balances in a basket between
the handlebars.
Know these general
Know these general
punctuation
punctuation rules
rules when
when using
using
subordination
subordination..

Subordinate
Subordinate clause
clause +,+ main
main clause.
clause.

Main
Main clause
clause +Ø+ subordinate
subordinate clause.
clause.

For exceptions to these

rules, see Comma
Comma Tip
Tip 5
5!
 Look
Look at
at our
our sample:
sample:
When Grandma rides her Harley
motorcycle, her toy poodle balances in
a basket between the handlebars.

Grandma rides her Harley motorcycle

while her toy poodle balances in a
basket between the handlebars.
 Let’s try fixing
some with
subordinate
conjunctions!
1. Jeff licked the soft serve
cone as
cone, he he
tried
tried
to keep
to keep
up up
with the melting ice cream.

Main
Main clause
clause +Ø+ subordinate
subordinate clause.
clause.
2. Since
NathanNathan
rudely rudely
slurpedslurped
the spicy soup, Maybelle
Maybelle
began loudly crunching tortilla
chips.

Subordinate
Subordinate clause
clause +,+ main
main clause.
clause.
3. Harold held his hand under
the cold water
water he
after
burnt
he burnt
his fingers trying to remove
the brownies without an
oven mitt.

Main
Main clause
clause +Ø+ subordinate
subordinate clause.
clause.
4. As
Thethe
flowers
flowers
waited
waited
for for
rainrain
or the cool spray from the
sprinklers,
sprinklers, they
they wilted
wilted in
in the
the
hot sun.

Subordinate
Subordinate clause
clause +,+ main
main clause.
clause.
 Quick Test
Directions: Find and fix all of the
comma splices and fused sentences
in the items that follow.
1. I went into the bathroom last
night because
night,
night.
night,
night; Ifor
IIheard
heard
I heard
heard someone
someone
I heard
someone
someone
someone
singing in singing
Spanish.in Spanish.
2. Surprised, I turned on the
lights.
lights, what
Whatidiot
idiotwas
wasmaking
making
noise in noise
my bathroom
in my bathroom
so late
so
at night?
late at night?
3. I looked everywhere—behind
the door, in the closet, under
the bathroom sink—but I
couldn't find the source of the
music,
music, the
andsinging
the singing
was was
really
reallyweird.
weird.
4. I listened closely,
closely.the
The
singing seemed to be
coming from the window
above the bathtub, so I
stuck my head around the
shower curtain and looked
in all of the corners.
5. It was unbelievable,
unbelievable.there
There
was a spider spinning a
web behind my shampoo
bottles;allallthe
bottles the
while
while,
sheshe
was singing Spanish love
songs.
6. When the spider saw me
staring at her, she said,
"Yeek!"
"Yeek," I Iwasn't usedtoto Yeek!
wasn'tused
spiders squeaking in surprise
at me in my own bathroom.
7. When the spider realized I
was a human being, she
crouched further behind the
shampoo bottle.
bottle I,I,on
onthe
the
other hand, went to get a
can of Raid.
8. When I returned with the
can of Raid, I pointed it at
the poor spider, wishing
for her death,
death. she,
She,as
asaa
result, started singing even
more beautifully.
9. Did I really want to hurt this
poor creature who sang
such beautiful Spanish love
songs?
songs, did
DidI really
I really
want
want
to to
poison her and cause her
to die a slow death behind
the shampoo bottle?
10.This spider was frightful looking,
for she had long hairy legs,
bulging eyes, and terrible

Correct!
pinching jaws, but I decided that
if she would continue singing in
her beautiful manner, I would let
her live on the bathroom window
ledge.
Correct
11. Every morning since that
surprising evening, I listen

again!
to my singing spider, who
continues
¡Azucar! to live behind the
shampoo bottle.
12. I brush my teeth to the melodic
voice of a very talented
arachnid
arachnid, my
while
spider
my spider
eats eats
whatever unlucky flies get
trapped in the house,
house. I've
I've
learned to think before I
spray Raid.
 The End.

Be kind
to
spiders!
Or we’ll
crawl
into your
pants
and bite
your
thighs!