Comma splice

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In written English usage, a comma splice or comma fault [1] [2] is the use of a comma to join two independent clauses. For example:

Contents

It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark. [lower-alpha 1]

The comma splice is sometimes used in literary writing to convey a particular mood of informality. It is usually considered an error in English writing style. Some authorities on English usage consider comma splices appropriate in limited situations, such as informal writing or with short similar phrases. [4] [5]

Overview

Comma splices are rare in most published writing but are common among inexperienced writers of English. [1] [6]

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White advises using a semicolon, not a comma, to join two grammatically complete clauses, or writing the clauses as separate sentences. The Elements of Style notes an exception to the semicolon rule, preferring a comma when the clauses are "very short and alike in form," or when the sentence's tone is "easy and conversational." For example:

The gate swung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was drawn up. [7]

Comma splices are similar to run-on sentences, which join two independent clauses without any punctuation or a coordinating conjunction such as and, butfor, etc. Sometimes the two types of sentences are treated differently based on the presence or absence of a comma, but most writers consider the comma splice as a special type of run-on sentence. [6] According to Garner's Modern English Usage :

[M]ost usage authorities accept comma splices when (1) the clauses are short and closely related, (2) there is no danger of a miscue, and (3) the context is informal ... But even when all three criteria are met, some readers are likely to object. [6]

Comma splices often arise when writers use conjunctive adverbs (such as furthermore, however, or moreover) to separate two independent clauses instead of using a coordinating conjunction. [8]

In literature

Comma splices are also occasionally used in fiction, poetry, and other forms of literature to convey a particular mood or informal style. Some authors use commas to separate short clauses only. [1] The comma splice is more commonly found in works from the 18th and 19th century, when written prose mimicked speech more closely. [9]

Fowler's Modern English Usage describes the use of the comma splice by the authors Elizabeth Jolley and Iris Murdoch:

We are all accustomed to the ... conjoined sentences that turn up from children or from our less literate friends... Curiously, this habit of writing comma-joined sentences is not uncommon in both older and present-day fiction. Modern examples: I have the bed still, it is in every way suitable for the old house where I live now (E. Jolley); Marcus ... was of course already quite a famous man, Ludens had even heard of him from friends at Cambridge (I. Murdoch). [10]

Journalist Oliver Kamm wrote in 2016 of novelist Jane Austen's use of the comma splice, "Tastes in punctuation are not constant. It makes no sense to accuse Jane Austen of incorrect use of the comma, as no one would have levelled this charge against her at the time. Her conventions of usage were not ours." [9]

The author and journalist Lynne Truss writes in Eats, Shoots & Leaves that "so many highly respected writers observe the splice comma that a rather unfair rule emerges on this one: only do it if you're famous." [11] Citing Samuel Beckett, E. M. Forster, and Somerset Maugham, she says: "Done knowingly by an established writer, the comma splice is effective, poetic, dashing. Done equally knowingly by people who are not published writers, it can look weak or presumptuous. Done ignorantly by ignorant people, it is awful." [11]

Notes

  1. This example is adapted from the online, public-domain 1918 edition of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. [3]

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The comma, is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline of the text. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical. Other fonts give it the appearance of a miniature filled-in figure 9 on the baseline.

The colon, :, is a punctuation mark consisting of two equally sized dots aligned vertically. A colon often precedes an explanation, a list, or a quoted sentence. It is also used between hours and minutes in time, between certain elements in medical journal citations, between chapter and verse in Bible citations, and, in the US, for salutations in business letters and other formal letter writing.

In English writing, quotation marks or inverted commas, also known informally as quotes, talking marks, speech marks, quote marks, quotemarks or speechmarks, are punctuation marks placed on either side of a word or phrase in order to identify it as a quotation, direct speech or a literal title or name. Quotation marks may be used to indicate that the meaning of the word or phrase they surround should be taken to be different from that typically associated with it, and are often used in this way to express irony. They are also sometimes used to emphasise a word or phrase, although this is usually considered incorrect.

The semicolon; is a symbol commonly used as orthographic punctuation. In the English language, a semicolon is most commonly used to link two independent clauses that are closely related in thought, such as when restating the preceding idea with a different expression. When a semicolon joins two or more ideas in one sentence, those ideas are then given equal rank. Semicolons can also be used in place of commas to separate items in a list, particularly when the elements of the list themselves have embedded commas.

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In English-language punctuation, a serial comma is a comma placed immediately after the penultimate term in a series of three or more terms. For example, a list of three countries might be punctuated as either "France, Italy and Spain" or "France, Italy, and Spain".

In traditional grammar, an independent clause is a clause that can stand by itself as a simple sentence. An independent clause contains a subject and a predicate and makes sense by itself.

Relative clauses in the English language are formed principally by means of relative words. The basic relative pronouns are who, which, and that; who also has the derived forms whom and whose. Various grammatical rules and style guides determine which relative pronouns may be suitable in various situations, especially for formal settings. In some cases the relative pronoun may be omitted and merely implied.

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The full stop, period, or full point. is a punctuation mark used for several purposes, most often to mark the end of a declarative sentence.

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The compound point is an obsolete typographical construction. Keith Houston reported that this form of punctuation doubling, which involved the comma dash (,—), the semicolon dash (;—), the colon dash, or 'dog's bollocks' (:—), and less often the stop-dash (.—) arose in the seventeenth century, citing examples from as early as 1622. More traditionally, these paired forms of punctuation seem most often to have been called (generically) compound points and (specifically) semicolon dash, comma dash, colon dash, and point dash.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wilson, Kenneth (2005). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Columbia University Press. p. 102. ISBN   9780585041483.
  2. Follett, Wilson; Wensberg, Erik (1998). Modern American Usage: A Guide. Macmillan. p. 269. ISBN   9780809001392.
  3. Strunk, William (1918). The Elements of Style. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company via Project Gutenberg.
  4. "To Splice or Not to Splice?". The MLA Style Center. 2017-03-28. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  5. "Comma Splice—Learn How to Avoid It". Grammarly . 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  6. 1 2 3 Garner, Bryan A. (2016). Garner's Modern English Usage. Oxford University Press. p. 803. ISBN   9780190491482.
  7. Strunk, William; White, E. B. (2000) [First edition 1918]. "Elementary Rules of Usage". The Elements of Style (fourth ed.). Needham Heights, Massachusetts: Allyn & Bacon. pp. 5–7. ISBN   0-205-30902-X.
  8. Buckley, Joanne (2003). Checkmate : a writing reference for Canadians. Scarborough, Ont.: Thomson Nelson. ISBN   0-176-22440-8.
  9. 1 2 Kamm, Oliver (2016). Accidence Will Happen: A Recovering Pedant's Guide to English Language and Style. Pegasus Books. p. 152. ISBN   9781681771892.
  10. Burchfield, R. W., ed. (1996). The New Fowler's Modern English Usage (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  163. ISBN   0-19-869126-2.
  11. 1 2 Truss, Lynne (2003). "That'll do, comma". Eats, Shoots & Leaves. London: Profile Books. p.  88. ISBN   1-86197-612-7.

Further reading