Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Free-For-All: Grammar Girl and Comma Splices

So many people use commas incorrectly. One major problem with end-of-sentence punctuation are comma splices. What is a comma splice, you may ask? Well, listen to this podcast by Grammar Girl. Maybe you always earn a 3 in conventions on your CIM papers and want to bump your score up to a 4. This could be the perfect tool. First, briefly summarize what a comma splice is. Next, point out two things that you have learned from Grammar Girl's podcast. One person commented that this was the most useful tool about comma splices she has ever read. Do you agree?

Note: You will not be able to listen to this at school because the school's website will not allow students to download mp3 files. You'll have to listen to this one at home. If you are just dying to hear it and don't have access at home, you can read her transcript instead.

28 comments:

  1. I am really interested in the hearing part. i have always wanted to completely understand the different ways of commas. i think i am going to have to listen to it at home.

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  2. We have been learning the ins and outs of commas since the begining of school. Learning about commas has helped me in my writing so much. I do not just add them everywhere in my papers, like confetti, rather I know where they go and when to use them. Prefecting these commas in class has and will help me write better papers in college. Even though commas can be tricky, it is good to know when and how to use them in our writing.

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  3. Rachel B.-
    I agree with you 100%. Comma's have been the hardest part of writing for me and this class has helped me understand them more. I know more about where to put them and how to use them just like you commented.

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  4. Comma Splice:
    A group of words that are separated with a comma instead of a period or semicolon.

    This podcast has really enahnced my knowledge of comma splices. I normally don't like reading or listening to podcasts, but it was interesting and comical.

    My problem? I love commas. I put them everywhere that I can. I don't really know why, though. I have been trying to use more semicolons than commas so that my reader can follow my writing more easily.

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  5. A comma Splice comma is used to splice together two complete sentences when that isn't the function of a comma. Grammer girl explained what a comma splice was better than anything I've ever read or heard. To me this jis a wonderful tool.

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  6. I think that comma splices are confusing and hard and I dont understand them. I hate commas; I am very bad with commas.

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  7. I have always been horrible at commas so it only makes since that I was pro at comma splices, but the podcast really helped me. I'm starting to understand little tricks and tips that help you decided where things should go. My new favorite grammatical tool tyhough is the semi-colon. It is very nifty in what it does, by expanding on what you are originally saying in a sentence.

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  8. comma splices are wrong and should never be used. I personally get confused with commas and it took me forever to learn how to use them in sentences. From reading this article I now know for sure that I can just put a semi-colon in between two complete thoughts. Also, using too much commas is bad.

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  9. A comma splice is putting two complete sentences together using a comma but leaving out a coordinating conjunction to make the comma correct. I never knew what a comma splice really was before seeing this, and it also helped me feel more confident in where to place some commas. I think this is a very useful tool because it explains things clearly and it is easy to follow.

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  10. Before this class all my english classes we never really covered comma splices. Teachers automatically thought I knew what they were, and how to fix them. College Prep Writing and this podcast has taught me how to fix and how to keep comma splices out of my writing. Know when I see a comma splice in my writing I just put a semi-colon in place of the comma splice

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  11. Comma splices are basically two complete sentences seperated by a comma. Comma splices, I believe, are completely ridiculous, because the comma is taking over the period's job, which is to seperate two complete sentences. It is like a waitress taking over the busser's job, a completely different task, at a restaurant. Comma splices just do not work when it comes to grammar and writing an essay.

    As far as I know, I have mostly mastered the art of commas, and listening to the Grammar Girl podcast was a review for me. I guess the one thing I leanred is that a comma splice is an easy problem to fix. I cannot think of another thing that I learned from this podcast.

    I definetely agree that this podcast can help many people with their comma issues. It teaches the concept of comma splices in an effective yet humorous and enjoyful way. Instead of the boring chalk-and-board environment with the regular teacher, there is a high-spirited "Grammar Girl" who brings out good examples but adds humor in them by delicately teasing the author who wrote the bad examples. She, basically, brings life into teaching proper grammar.

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  13. I certainly agree with Sophie's analogy of how the comma is taking the place of a period in a comma splice. The comma splice is a simple error that can be dealt with by just looking over your sentences with commas and making sure the comma cannot be replaced with a period; if it can, be sure to add a coordinating conjunction or just revise the sentence.

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  14. A comma splice is when two sentences are put together without a coordinating conjunction between them. I learned that the easiest way to correct a comma splice is to make the comma a period. I agree that this is was helpful, but commas are still a challenge for me when writing papers.

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  15. To me, a comma splice is when two complete sentences are combined into one with a comma in between them. It must have a conjunction between the two to be used properly. Grammar Girl taught me how to watch out for comma splices when writing my papers. I now know how to correctly get rid of comma splices. This was a useful site, and I believe that if someone did not know what a comma splice was they would now know.

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  16. A comma splice is when a writer combines two complete sentences without a coordinating conjuction. Grammer Girls podcast helped me learn to fix comma splices. The three ways it taught me was to separate them with a period, use a semicolon, or add a coordinating conjunction. I think this was a very useful tool to learn about comma splices. I learned more about them in the podcast then anywhere else.

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  17. The pod cast was a big help to me. I have trouble with commas, and comma slices are the ones I have most trouble with. This pod cast showed what a comma slice actually was, and had good example to help understand. A comma slice is two complete sentences without a coordinating conjuction. With this knowledge, I will now pay more atention to it in my papers.

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  18. i agree with the students commas has to be the hard part ofthe paper. You have to have the right moment to put one in, but lisining to Grammer Girl could always work to fix are papers.

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  19. A comma splice is when two idependent clauses are connected with a comma but no conjuction. They are an incorrect use of a comma. I definintly agree that this podcast was very useful! I'm sure i've been putting loads of comma splices in my papers because I never really knew what they were. Now that I know what they are I will consciously try to avoid using them.

    From this podcast I learned what a comma splice is (See above.) I also learned how to use commas correctly without making the mistake of using a comma splice.

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  21. A comma splice is when two sentences are connected together without a conjuction. This means it is an incorrect use of a comma. This podcast was extremely useful for me because i struggles wit commas and even though she only talked about one specifically, it still helped me better understand.
    Two things that i learned in this podcast were that a semicolon can be used as grammer girl but it, as a "sentence splicer" it helps splices the sentences together. I also learned that most of the time a conjuction can fix a comma splice. This was a very helpful podcast

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  22. Comma splices are two complete sentences are put together with a comma. This podcast turned out to be very useful to me. I struggle with commas, and comma splices are very difficult for me. In my writing I will pay more attention to these. This podcast also imformed me how to fix this error. This podcast has helped me with comma splices more than anything else has.

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  23. A comma splice is a group of words that are separated with a comma instead of a period or semicolon. See my problem is I hate commas and never understand where to put them, I really try to avoid them.

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  24. I completely agree with Zach M. The podcast has made comma splices easier to understand. Commas are still annoying though. It's so easy to put them in the wrong place! Ugh!!

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  25. I also agree with Zach M. I understand comma splices a lot better now. But I still put some in the wrong spots or I don't put them where they should be. I just know the basic type of comma-ing that you learn in like 1st grade. xD

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  26. It's too bad we can't listen to the podcast at school when people are usually writing essays. I think it would make the in-class essay a little bit more successful in the conventions area if we were able to listen to that while writing our essays. :)

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  27. Comma splices occur when you don't add a coordinating conjunction to separate two complete sentences. To bring the two complete sentences into one whole sentence, you need a coordinating conjunction or else the sentence does not make sense. I really enjoyed this because I didn't know what a comma splice was for a while. Finally, I know how to avoid this type of error.

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  28. Dear Kole H.,

    I understand that commas can be difficult for you to place in sentences. I had the same problem for a while too, but there is an effective solution to your problem. What I did to overcome this struggle was to just use them when you think you're supposed to. The key to improving your work is to make errors. I guarentee that you will make errors, but they will help you make corrections in the future. :)

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