Blog Post # 5. Grammar Problem

My Grammar Problem

A grammar problem that I’ve always had since I can’t even remember, were comma slices. My teachers in the past have always told me to work on making my sentences sound more complete.

A comma slice occurs when a comma is in between two different independent clauses without an appropriate conjunction. For example, sometimes I find myself typing things like “Sharks swim in shallow waters, they hunt to find small fish to eat.” In this sentence there are two independent clauses, but there is no conjunction in between the two. The correct sentence for this would be, “Sharks swim in shallow waters, and then they hunt to find small fish to eat.” The addition of “and then they” fills in as the appropriate conjunction for this sentence, and makes the sentence complete and correct.

Another comma slice that I have done countless times since I’ve been here was having the comma and transitional expression in my sentence, join two independent clauses. For example, I would say, “Some librarians work part-time, however, many of them work full time.” In this sentence, one independent clause ends to the beginning of the transitional expression which initiates the second independent clause. The first independent clause should have a type of break, before the second independent clause is displayed. So the correct version of this sentence would be, “Some librarians work part-time; however, many of them work full time.” Now there is a break in between the two independent clauses, which makes the sentence correct.

-Soheil Tayebi