Comma splices 📝

How not to use commas

Comma splices -what are they ? They sound like a good thing (the name reminds me of a delicious ice-cream🍦I loved as a kid) but they aren’t .They are punctuation mistakes often made by English native speakers and non native speakers alike. Yes, native speakers make this mistake too!

Let’s have a look at an example of one :

I love studying English, my teacher is amazing.

You may think this sentence looks correct and you have probably seen similar sentences. However, this is a comma splice and if you want to write correctly (you may have an IELTS or Cambridge exam coming up) , then please make sure you avoid this mistake.

So what exactly are comma splices and how can we avoid them?

They are two independent clauses (parts of sentences which can stand alone) joined together by a comma.

I love studying English, my teacher is amazing ⬅️ Clause, clause = comma splice

So, how do we fix comma splices?

➡️ Make two simple sentences .

I love studying English . My teacher is amazing.

➡️ Join the clauses with a conjunction.

I love studying English because my teacher is amazing.

➡️ Use a semicolon to join the clauses. ( To see more information about semicolons please see my blog post the semicolon )

I love studying English; my teacher is amazing.

So, next time you are checking your essay or any piece of writing for mistakes (which I hope everyone does), remember to check if you have written any comma splices and fix them using the tips above 😊