37 Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

A comma splice results from placing only a comma between clauses. We often see comma splices in advertising and other slogans, where they can provide a catchy rhythm.

Dogs have owners, cats have staff.

– Bumper Sticker

Another related construction is a fused, or run-on, sentence, which results from joining two independent clauses with no punctuation or connecting word between them. The bumper sticker as a fused sentence would be “Dogs have owners cats have staff.”

You will seldom profit from using comma splices or fused sentences in academic or professional writing. In fact, doing so will almost always draw an instructor’s criticism.

Editing for Comma Splices and Fused Sentences

AT A GLANCE

Two independent clauses—groups of words that can stand alone as sentences—joined with no punctuation form a fused sentence. Two such clauses joined only by a comma form a comma splice. Here are six methods of editing comma splices and fused sentences. As you edit, look at the sentences around the ones you are revising to determine how a particular method will affect the rhythm of the passage.

  1. Separate the clauses into two sentences. (37a)

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  2. Link the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet). (37b)

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  3. Link the clauses with a semicolon. (37c)

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    If the clauses are linked with only a comma and a conjunctive adverb—a word like however, then, therefore—add a semicolon.

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  4. Recast the two clauses as one independent clause. (37d)

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  5. Recast one independent clause as a dependent clause. (37e)

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  6. In informal writing, link the clauses with a dash. (37f)

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Judging Sentence Length

FOR MULTILINGUAL WRITERS

In U.S. academic contexts, readers sometimes find a series of short sentences “choppy” and undesirable. If you want to connect two independent clauses into one sentence, be sure to join them using one of the methods discussed in this chapter so that you avoid creating a comma splice or fused sentence. Another useful tip for writing in American English is to avoid writing several very long sentences in a row. If you find this pattern in your writing, try breaking it up by including a shorter sentence occasionally. (See Chapter 30.)

Comma Splices in Context

TALKING ABOUT STYLE

Spliced and fused sentences appear frequently in literary and journalistic writing, where they can create momentum with a rush of details:

Bald eagles are common, ospreys abound, we have herons and mergansers and kingfishers, we have logging with Percherons and Belgians, we have park land and nature trails, we have enough oddballs, weirdos, and loons to satisfy anybody.

– Anne Cameron

Context is critical. Depending on audience, purpose, and situation, structures commonly considered errors can be appropriate and effective.