Editing for Comma Splices
and Fused Sentences
English 803
Independent Clauses

An Independent clause (IC) is a group of words with a
subject and a verb that expresses a complete thought.
 Marty enjoyed his first year of college. (A sentence with
one independent clause)
 He learned how to study, and he learned how to manage
his time. (a sentence with two independent clauses)
 He had the time to complete his schoolwork properly and
time to spend with his friends.(a sentence with one IC
and a pair of infinitive phrases.
Subject Pretenders

Sometimes we mistake
words in prepositional
phrases for subjects of
clauses
She applied as a short
order cook at Gino’s.
“Short order cook” is not
the subject of this clause;
“She” is the subject.
 One of my favorite comic
strips in the Sunday paper
is Doonesbury. “comic
strips” is not the subject
of this clause; “one” is the
subject.

Verb Pretenders
Ing words are not verbs
unless they have a form of
“to be” in front of them
(“was,” “is,” etc.)
 We can spot the crew
rowing toward the shore.
(Although it looks like a
verb, “rowing” is not the
verb of this clause; “spot”
is the verb)
 Yelling loudly, Peter hailed
the cab. (Again, yelling is
not the verb; “hailed” is
the verb of this clause.)

To + Verb: Infinitives are
not verbs.
 Susan went to the store to
buy apples. (“to buy” is not
the verb in this clause;
“went” is the verb)
 To study would be the
sensible thing to do. (“To
study” is not the verb in
this clause; “would be” is
the verb.):

Fused Sentences

Two or more IC’s without a
proper connecting word and
punctuation.

Three corrections:
 IC. IC.
 IC; IC.
 IC, (FANBOY) IC.
Fanboys = coordinating conjunctions = For, And, Nor, But,
Or, Yet, So (These are crucial tools for connecting (or
coordinating) ideas into more complex sentences. Note: The
only time you must have a comma before a FANBOY is when it
connects two independent clauses.
Example
Fused
Sentence: I gave my dog Ralph the
bone he liked it so much that it was gone in
a minute.
I
gave my dog Ralph the bone. He liked it so
much that it was gone in a minute.
I gave my dog Ralph the bone; he liked it so
much that it was gone in a minute.
I gave my dog Ralph the bone, and he liked it so
much that it was gone in a minute.
Comma Splice
A
sentence with
two independent
clauses separated
only by a comma.
Three
IC.
Corrections
IC..
IC; IC.
IC, (fanboys) IC.
Example
Comma
Splice: My sister is still in law
school, she expects to finish in June.
My
sister is still in law school. She
expects to finish in June.
My sister is still in law school; she
expects to finish in June.
My sister is till in law school, but she
expects to finish in June.