Punctuating Independent Clauses Correctly Avoid Fragments, Run-Ons, and Comma Splice Errors

Dependent and Independent Clauses Dependent clauses cannot stand alone. They depend on an independent clause to make sense. When you punctuate a dependent clause as if it could stand alone, you have created a FRAGMENT.

Dependent and Independent Clauses Independent clauses can stand alone. They are complete sentences. They have a subject and a verb. They express a complete thought. You can combine independent clauses, but you must punctuate them correctly.

Dependent or Independent? When Sosa hit a homerun against the Sox. Because the wedding planner was hired. She played to win. After I went to Tuesday night’s Bulls game. I could not believe it! Although I like the Bears. Happy, little bluebirds fly.

For And Nor But Or Yet So You must put a comma before the coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so when they connect two independent clauses. Conjunctions join words or groups of words. When they join two independent clauses, they need a comma. For And Nor But Or Yet So

NO: The Bears and the Packers have the longest rivalry in the NFL and they play twice every season. YES: The Bears and the Packers have the longest rivalry in the NFL, and they play twice every season. NO: Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul quit American Idol yet they are on a new show. YES: Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul quit American Idol, yet they are on a new show. When you make the mistake of leaving out the comma, you have created a RUN-ON SENTENCE.

Comma Splice Comma splice is when two independent clauses are combined with only a comma. Independent clauses can only be combined with a comma if a conjunction is used. NO: Jerry loves Walt Whitman, he is his favorite author. YES: Jerry loves Walt Whitman, and he is his favorite author. YES: Jerry loves Walt Whitman; he is his favorite author.

Combine the Independent Clauses Correctly: He can be a pain. His legs really cramped up. It was rescheduled. We cannot wait. They are falling asleep. It was great. It was a great accomplishment. The students are bored. We finished the book. School is almost out. My dog is cute. Jim finished the race Don wants to run a marathon Aaron’s party was cancelled

Assignment: Look in your Personal Narrative. Find three sentences that are either a fragment, run-on sentence, or contain a comma splice error. Write the sentence with the error as a NO sentence. Write the corrected sentence as a YES. Example: NO: I could’ve killed her, she could’ve stopped breathing. YES: I could’ve killed her, or she could have stopped breathing. * If you feel you have no errors, find three places where you can correctly combine two independent clauses and submit the new, combined sentences.