I learned most of my grammar skills prior to high school. I’ve always enjoyed writing stories or expressing my thoughts through written language. So, imagine my dismay when I began tutoring and then instructing students who didn’t possess the same knowledge of basic grammar. At the collegiate level, I hoped to find less instances of comma splices, fused sentences, and general run-ons in my students’ work — but here I am on a mission to clean up their writing!
If you’re not familiar with a comma splice, just read this: “I ate an apple, it tasted good.” That comma is splicing together two independent clauses — two subjects and verbs that could stand alone as sentences. In academic and professional writing, that comma splice simply has no place. I even cringe thinking of such errors in creative or conversational writing. So, how do we fix it? You could start by replacing the comma with a period and capitalizing “it.” You could add the word “and” after the comma to create a compound sentence. You could even replace the comma with a semi-colon or em dash. No matter how you fix it, all of these methods will create a grammatically sound statement.
Of course, you could also come across this: “I ate an apple it tasted good.” Like the comma splice, you have two independent clauses haphazardly slapped together — but this time you don’t even have punctuation separating it! All of the above methods to fix a comma splice work well with a fused sentence. While it’s fine if you’re just writing to get the words on paper (or screen), always be sure to proofread your work to correct such errors.
Now, let’s not forget sentences like this: “I ate an apple, and it tasted good, and I was happy, and the apple was shiny and red, but I had to hurry up and get back to work.” Maybe you speak like this among your friends, but academic and professional writing require more punctuation and separation. A run-on sentence like the example provided comes across as sloppy. Of course, the solutions to such a sentence are varied and dependent upon your intended meaning. Perhaps try this: “I ate a shiny, red apple, and it tasted good. I was happy, but I had to hurry up and get back to work.” You’re grouping the information about the apple together while also emphasizing your emotional state in the second sentence.
These examples certainly do not encompass all run-on sentences, so do be sure to practice finding such errors whenever you’re reading your own work, a news article, or anything else. Practicing your grammar skills provides the foundation for your own grammatically sound writing, which in turn creates a more professional appearance in your documents. Whether you’re aspiring to earn an A on an essay or land a lucrative position, good grammar goes a long way in impressing your reader.
