Commas

Combining two COMPLETE sentences There are THREE ways to separate complete sentences Option 1: Use a period and a capital letter We all get free lunch. My mom refuses to pack my lunch for me. Option 2: Use a semicolon We all get free lunch; my mom refuses to pack my lunch for me. Option 3: Use a comma with a conjunction (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So) We all get free lunch, so my mom refuses to pack my for me.

Can you have two complete sentences joined by only a comma? NO!

Amanda gobbled up four tacos, and an order of refried beans. Why is this wrong? “Amanda gobbled up four tacos” is a complete sentences and can stand alone. “an order of refried beans” is NOT a complete sentence. If you do not have two complete sentences, don’t use a sentence connector! John hated television and music, but he loved doing algebra. Why is this right? Both parts could stand alone as complete sentences, and an appropriate connector (comma and conjunction) is used to combine the sentences.

TWO DOTS OF GLUE OR JUST ONE? ; , and conjunction . and capital letter , conjunction To join two stand alone sentences, you need two drops of glue. It has to be stronger in order to hold two sentences together. If you don’t have two stand alone sentences, you don’t need as much glue so you can only use one drop.

Semi-colon. Used WITHOUT a conjunction to join two complete sentences! Think “two dots of glue” Example: The first day of school was this past week; I am a junior this year. Comma and Conjunction. With two complete sentences, you USE BOTH. Example: The first day of school was this past week, and I am a junior this year. Period and capital letter. You can always just break the sentences into two simple sentences with a PERIOD and CAPITAL LETTER. Example: The first day of school was this past week. I am a junior this year.

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT TO DO? 1st---When you are given a sentence to work with, look for any existing conjunctions (FANBOYS) or commas. 2nd---Look at those places and see if you have a complete sentence (one that can stand alone) on either side of the existing conjunction or comma. 3rd- If you DO have two complete sentences being joined, you must make sure one of the three connectors is in place. (semi colon, comma w/conjunction, or period w/capital letter.) 4th-If you DON’T have two complete sentences being joined, make sure you are not using a sentence connector. 5th- On a multiple choice test, look for the option that uses the connection in the correct way. REMEMBER: Two Sentences that can stand alone will always need one of the three sentence connectors. They need “two dots of glue” not just one!