Commas, Comma Splices, and Sentence Fragments

Joan Gardner, Cara Jacobsen, and April Weiss

Commas

The correct use of commas helps you communicate effectively.

In some places, commas are required to accurately convey your meaning….

Commas should be used to prevent confusion.Ex. Stop clubbing baby seals! vs. Stop clubbing,

baby seals!Commas separate introductory words, phrases,

and clauses from the rest of the sentence.Ex. Slowly, the baby seals realized they were in

danger.Commas separate clauses in compound

sentences.Ex. The club was brought out, and the baby seals

grew quiet.Commas separate items in a list.

Ex. All the baby seals—Rupert, Donald, Gertrude, and Jermaine—gave a tiny roar.

Commas can be used with dates, addresses, titles, and numbers.Ex. On May 19, 2525, mercury levels will rise and

create a race of super baby seals.Commas should be used with most quotations.

Ex. “Please stop clubbing me,” said the super baby seal.

Don’t use commas excessively!Ex. The evil captor, kept clubbing the, super baby

seal, and the super, baby, seal, attacked the man, leading an attack.

Commas separate parenthetical and transitional expressions.Ex. Some seals, incidentally, continued to revolt

against their aggressive captors.

Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

Commas can be used to structure sentences and indicate natural pauses.

Without them, you could sound like this:www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzbUPfoveokIn order to avoid sounding like this, revise

comma splices and fused sentences.

Use something more than a single comma to separate two independent clauses.

Ex. The Micro Machines Man was popular in the 80’s, Cara is the only one who recognizes him now.

What’s the correct way to fix this?A. The Micro Machines Man was popular in the 80’s.

Cara is the only one who recognizes him now.B. The Micro Machines Man was popular in the 80’s,

but Cara is the only one who recognizes him now.C. The Micro Machines Man was popular in the 80’s;

Cara is the only one who recognizes him now.D. Although the Micro Machines Man was popular in

the 80’s, Cara is the only one who recognizes him now.

Use commas to fix run-on (fused) sentencesEx. Micro Machines were so amazing because they were so small so incredible and so durable.Fixed: Micro Machines were so amazing because they were so small, so incredible, and so durable.

Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments are like comma splices, but with periods instead of commas.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx6TBrfCW54

Phrase fragments are dependent clauses used alone.Ex. I have issues. With badgers.

Be careful not to make a fragment when starting with transitions.Ex. Badgers have attacked many creatures. Such as

cobras.Compound-predicate fragments unnecessarily

separate objects from their subjects.Ex. The badger attacked the cobra. And dragged it

into its hole.Dependent-clause fragments are also dependent

clauses used alone.Ex. The badger attacked the cobra. And was bitten.

To fix sentence fragments, combine clauses with commas or conjunctions.Fixed examples:I have issues with badgers.Badgers have attacked many creatures, such as cobras.The badger attacked the cobra and dragged it into its

hole.The badger attacked the cobra and was bitten.

No baby seals were harmed in the making of this PowerPoint presentation.

Unfortunately, one cobra was mauled.

SourcesLundsford, Andrea. The Everyday Writer. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s,

2010. 311-335.Turner Entertainment Company. “Stop clubbing, baby seals…” http://

othersiderainbow.blogspot.com/2012/02/stop-clubbing-baby-seals.html. 11 Feb. 2012. Web. 2 March 2013.

Williston, Chris. “Micro (Machine) Spirituality.” http://www.austincnm.com/index.php/2011/08/micro-machine-spirituality/#.UTLmOVflrbA. 22 Aug. 2011. Web. 2 March 2013.

“Honey badger.” http://thelife-animal.blogspot.com/2012/07/honey-badger.html. Web. 2 March 2013.

“We Don’t Need No Stinking Badgers!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx6TBrfCW54. 23 March 2009. Web. 2 March 2013.

“More MicroMachines.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzbUPfoveok. 1 Oct. 2007. Web. 2 March 2013.