Grammer a Week 1: Comma Splices · 10:46pm Jan 23rd, 2015
This is Grammer a Week, the periodic blog program-thing where I address a frequently broken grammar rule and tell you how to fix it. This week's installment is about the comma splice, and it's among the most pervasive errors I see on FiMFiction.
Making a comma splice is kind of like switching its cutie mark à la Magical Mystery Cure; you're forcing the comma into a role that it was never meant to play in. Stop making the comma sad and learn how to use it properly! 
Comma splices may be the most common grammar error I see not only around this site, but everywhere: peer-written letters, emails, news articles, everything. Well, this and the compound predicate error, but that's a different post.
In the simplest and must succinct form, a comma splice error happens when you use a comma where there really should be a period or something of similar strength. Here are a few examples:
Twilight stumbled up the stairs of her castle, she was so tired.
A broken heart never completely heals, scars are always left behind.
Fluttershy woke up to an empty bed, it looked like Rarity was already up.
If you think these sentences are fine, you might want to go and double-check your stories for grammar. These examples are all wrong because they all have a comma splice in them. The comma was simply not built to do the job the period can—it's not a strong enough piece of punctuation. The period can separate two otherwise complete sentences (I call them independent clauses), but the comma cannot.
In other words, if you can replace that comma with a period, that comma has to be replaced with a period.
So, how do you fix the comma splice? You can do as I've just said and replace the comma with a period, like this:
A broken heart never completely heals. Scars are always left behind.
You can also replace the comma with a semicolon. You know the key on your keyboard that's always under your right pinky on the home row? Yeah, that one:
A broken heart never completely heals; scars are always left behind.
Or you could add a coordinating conjunction. There are seven of them (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so [FANBOYS]) that you could use:
Fluttershy woke up to an empty bed, so it looked like Rarity was already up.
You could also convert the second part of the sentence—the second independent clause—into a dependent one by adding a subordinating conjunction. There are a lot of these, but some of the most well-known are because, although, however, if, unless, etc. Consult Google if you want to know if your word of choice is a subordinating conjunction:
Twilight stumbled up the stairs of her castle because she was so tired.
Notice that unlike the case with coordinating conjunctions, this sentence has no comma at all. That's because this sentence is a complex sentence as opposed to the previous compound ones. I might address this sentence structure in further detail in a future post, but for now, just know that if you fix a comma splice like this, you don't need a comma.
Exceptions
Like most rules of the English language, there are exceptions to this rule as well, but they are few and far between. Take this famous quote:
I came, I saw, I conquered.
Most of the time, this is the way the quote is punctuated: with comma splices. Is this wrong? Yes and no. Yes, there are comma splices in this quote, but the sentences are so short and so similar that most people will consider this violation of the comma splice rule to be acceptable.
Also consider:
Twilight was so preoccupied, she forgot to write to Princess Celestia that week.
This sentence has a really controversial structure that some people will consider right and others wrong. It looks like a comma splice right now, but what the sentence is really saying is:
Twilight was so preoccupied [that] she forgot to write to Princess Celestia that week.
Here, the comma represents an omitted word: "that." It's not really a comma splice, but it looks an awful lot like one *. Keep in mind, however, that it is never wrong to fix these cases . . .
I came; I saw; I conquered.
Twilight was so preoccupied that she forgot to write to Princess Celestia that week.
. . . so I normally fix them in every instance that I see them and avoid the trouble.
* As far as I am aware, "that" is the only word that can be omitted like this.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please post them below. I'm always open to suggestions for future Grammer a Week posts.
Very useful. My preference is semicolons; they seem to me to preserve the connection the author is incorrectly trying to indicate between the sentences with the comma.
2743965 Nice! Just be careful whom you use the semicolon with. There actually are some authors out there who look down on semicolons because they're seen as an elitist piece of punctuation. To quote Kurt Vonnegut: "Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college."
Honestly, I think that's a load of horseapples, considering how often I use the semicolon, but it's something to keep in mind.
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An "elitist piece of punctuation"? Seriously? I have to agree, that's a huge load of horseapples. When people use a comma incorrectly and make a comma splice, they're basically attempting to create the effect of a semicolon--at least, it seems that way to me! The two sentences are supposed to be connected, not separate, most of the time at least. So a semicolon sounds exactly the way the writer was intending. If so many people want their writing to have the feel of a semicolon, how could it possibly be "elitist"? That just seems ridiculous. Bah on you, Kurt Vonnegut.
The "grammer" in the title/tag is intentional as you're showing off some piece of frequently misused mechanics, yes?