Comma Splice Examples in Literature: Spotting and Analyzing

📚 Quick Study Guide

• 📝 A comma splice happens when you join two independent clauses with only a comma.
• 🛑 Independent clauses are parts of a sentence that can stand alone.
• ✏️ Correct comma splices by: using a semicolon (;), adding a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet), making the clauses separate sentences, or restructuring the sentence.
• 🔎 Look for sentences that could be split into two but are joined only by a comma.

🤔 Practice Quiz

1. Which of the following sentences contains a comma splice?
   1. A. I went to the store, I bought milk.
   2. B. I went to the store and bought milk.
   3. C. After I went to the store, I bought milk.
   4. D. I went to the store to buy milk.
2. In the sentence, "The dog barked loudly, it scared the cat," what is the error?
   1. A. Subject-verb agreement
   2. B. Comma splice
   3. C. Misplaced modifier
   4. D. Dangling participle
3. Which of the following is a correct way to fix the comma splice in the sentence, "She was tired, she went to bed early?"
   1. A. She was tired she went to bed early.
   2. B. She was tired, but she went to bed early.
   3. C. She was tired, so she went to bed early,
   4. D. She was tired, and went to bed early.
4. Identify the comma splice in the following excerpt: "The rain fell softly, the streets glistened."
   1. A. The rain fell softly
   2. B. the streets glistened
   3. C. The rain fell softly, the streets glistened
   4. D. There is no comma splice in this sentence.
5. Which sentence correctly avoids a comma splice?
   1. A. He ran quickly, he won the race.
   2. B. He ran quickly; he won the race.
   3. C. He ran quickly, so he won the race,
   4. D. He ran quickly, he therefore won the race.
6. What punctuation mark can replace the comma to correct the following comma splice: "I love to read, books are my passion."
   1. A. Colon (:)
   2. B. Semicolon (;)
   3. C. Dash (--)
   4. D. Exclamation point (!)
7. Which of these sentences does NOT contain a comma splice?
   1. A. The sun shone brightly, the birds sang sweetly.
   2. B. The sun shone brightly; the birds sang sweetly.
   3. C. The sun shone brightly, it was a beautiful day.
   4. D. She smiled, she was happy.