Editing Comma splice

{{Short description|Use of a comma to join independent clauses}}
In written English usage, a '''comma splice''' or '''comma fault'''{{refn|name=Wilson}}{{refn|name=Follett & Wensberg}} is the use of a [[comma]] to join two [[independent clause]]s. For example:

{{Quote|It is nearly half past five, we cannot reach town before dark.{{efn|This example is adapted from the online, public-domain 1918 edition of ''[[The Elements of Style]]'' by [[William Strunk Jr.]]{{refn|name=Strunk 1918}}}}}}

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 [[Linguistic prescription|English usage]] consider comma splices appropriate in limited situations, such as informal writing or with short similar phrases.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-28|title=To Splice or Not to Splice?|url=https://style.mla.org/splices/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=The MLA Style Center|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-09-26|title=Comma Splice—Learn How to Avoid It|url=https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma-splice/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=[[Grammarly]]|language=en}}</ref>

== Description ==
Comma splices are rare in most published writing,{{efn|By "published writing," this article is referring to ''professionally'' published writing, such as commercially published works, where someone other than the author has proofread the work before it is published. Self-published works, if carefully examined and corrected by someone with language skills, can qualify as professionally done.}} but are common among inexperienced writers of English.{{refn|name=Wilson}}{{refn|name=Garner}}

''[[The Elements of Style]]'' by [[William Strunk Jr.]] and [[E. B. White]] advises using a [[semicolon]], not a comma, to join two [[independent clause|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:

{{Quote|The gate swung apart, the bridge fell, the portcullis was drawn up.{{refn|name=S&W}}}}

Comma splices are similar to [[run-on sentence]]s, which join two [[independent clause]]s without any punctuation or a [[conjunction (grammar)#Coordinating conjunctions|coordinating conjunction]] such as ''and'', ''but'', ''for'', 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 a special type of run-on sentence.{{refn|name=Garner}} According to ''[[Garner's Modern English Usage]]'': {{quote|[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.{{refn|name=Garner}}}}

Comma splices often arise when writers use [[conjunctive adverb]]s (such as ''furthermore'', ''however'', or ''moreover'') to separate two independent clauses instead of using a coordinating conjunction.{{refn|name=Buckley}}

== 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.{{refn|name=Wilson}} The comma splice is more commonly found in works from the 18th and 19th century, when written prose mimicked speech more closely.{{refn|name=Kamm}}

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

{{Quote|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).{{refn|name=Burchfield}}}}

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."{{refn|name=Kamm}}

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."{{refn|name=Truss}} 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."{{refn|name=Truss}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=

<ref name="Buckley">{{cite book |last1=Buckley |first1=Joanne |title=Checkmate : a writing reference for Canadians |date=2003 |publisher=Thomson Nelson |location=Scarborough, Ont. |isbn=0-176-22440-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/checkmatewriting0000buck }}</ref>

<ref name="Burchfield">{{cite book |editor1-last=Burchfield |editor1-first=R. W. |editor1-link=R. W. Burchfield |title=The New Fowler's Modern English Usage |isbn=0-19-869126-2 |edition=3rd |year=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/newfowlersmodern00fowl/page/163 163] |location=Oxford |url=https://archive.org/details/newfowlersmodern00fowl/page/163 }}</ref>

<ref name="Follett & Wensberg">{{cite book |last1=Follett |first1=Wilson |last2=Wensberg |first2=Erik |title=Modern American Usage: A Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=9780809001392 |page=269 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgVpvTpFgU8C&q=%22comma+splice%22+%22comma+fault%22&pg=PA269 |language=en}}</ref>

<ref name="Garner">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=Bryan A. |title=Garner's Modern English Usage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190491482 |page=803 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mSjnCwAAQBAJ&q=comma+splice+splices&pg=PA803 |language=en}}</ref>

<ref name="Kamm">{{cite book |last1=Kamm |first1=Oliver |title=Accidence Will Happen: A Recovering Pedant's Guide to English Language and Style |date=2016 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=9781681771892 |page=152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zUB5DAAAQBAJ&q=%22comma+splice%22&pg=PT102 |language=en}}</ref>

<ref name="S&W">{{cite book |last1=Strunk |first1=William |last2=White |first2=E. B. |authorlink1=William Strunk |authorlink2=E. B. White | orig-year=First edition 1918 |date=2000 |edition=fourth |location=Needham Heights, Massachusetts |publisher=[[Allyn & Bacon]]|title=The Elements of Style |chapter=Elementary Rules of Usage |pages=5&ndash;7 |isbn=0-205-30902-X}}</ref>

<ref name="Strunk 1918">{{cite book|last1=Strunk|first1=William|title=The Elements of Style|date=1918|publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Company|via=[[Project Gutenberg]]|location=New York|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37134|language=en}}</ref>

<ref name="Truss">{{cite book |last=Truss |first=Lynne |author-link=Lynne Truss |isbn=1-86197-612-7 |year=2003 |title=Eats, Shoots & Leaves |chapter=That'll do, comma |publisher=Profile Books |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/eatsshootsleav00trus/page/88 88] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/eatsshootsleav00trus/page/88 }}</ref>

<ref name="Wilson">{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Kenneth |title=The Columbia Guide to Standard American English |date=2005 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780585041483 |page=102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l9g3BAAAQBAJ&q=%22comma+splice%22+%22comma+fault%22&pg=PA102 |language=en}}</ref>

}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last1=Bridge |first1=Deborah |editor1-last=Patterson |editor1-first=Diana |title=Harry Potter's World Wide Influence |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=9781443816281 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThAaBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |language=en |chapter=The S.P.L.I.C.E. of Life?}}
* {{cite news |title=The dreaded comma splice |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2012/01/punctuation |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=10 January 2012}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/style.html ''The Elements of Style'']: full text of Strunk's 1918 edition

[[Category:English grammar]]
[[Category:Punctuation]]