When should you use each method of combining independent clauses?
While these methods are all grammacal, they all have slightly dierent eects:
• Two separate sentences – gets the informaon across more directly
• Semicolon – connects the two ideas strongly, more impacul
• Dependent and independent clause – highlights the relaonship between the ideas
• Combined clauses – reduces some informaon, concise
• Comma + coordinang conjuncon – keeps the ideas separate but ows smoothly
A comma alone isn’t strong enough to connect two independent clauses. If only a comma
is used to connect two independent clauses, this is a run-on called a comma splice error:
Alex loves cats, she has a kien named Emily. (Comma splice error)
The most common ways to correct these are as follows:
Alex loves cats. She has a kien named Emily. (Two separate sentences)
Alex loves cats; she has a kien named Emily. (Semicolon acts like a period)
Alex loves cats, and she has a kien named Emily. (Comma + coordinang conjuncon)
Because Alex loves cats, she has a kien named Emily. (Dependent and independent)
Alex has a kien named Emily. (Combined clauses)
Let’s look at a series of independent clauses and then combine them into a short paragraph to see each of these
punctuaon choices in acon.
a) The rule of thirds in visual composion is one of the most useful tools for guiding the viewer’s eye around
an image.
b) The image is cut into a three-by-three grid.
c) One of the intersecons is chosen to be the main focal point.
d) Another is chosen as a secondary focal point.
e) The primary and secondary focal points should never be on the same side of the image.
f) This sends the viewer’s eye up and down in a line, away from the other side.
Comma Splice
Errors
(a) The rule of thirds in visual composion is one of the most useful tools for guiding the viewer’s eye
around an image. (b) The image is cut into a three-by-three grid; (c) one of the intersecons is chosen
to be the main focal point, and (d) another is chosen as a secondary focal point. (e) The primary and
secondary focal points should never be on the same side of the image, since (f) this sends the viewer’s
eye up and down in a line, away from the other side.
Clause (a) holds enough informaon to stand as its own sentence, but the others work beer combined; clauses
with closely related informaon make more sense when they’re in the same sentence together. Beginning a new
sentence indicates a new idea, and a new sentence that connues the same idea can surprise the reader.
Clauses (c) and (d) are connected closely with a comma and coordinang conjuncon between them—and this
combined pair of clauses creates a full sentence when clause (b) is connected to it with a semicolon. Thus, the
second sentence of this paragraph is made up of three independent clauses, connected using both a semicolon and
a comma (plus conjuncon).
As for clauses (e) and (f), clause (f) has a dependent relaonship with clause (e), which means the most sensible
way to combine them is with a subordinang conjuncon, making clause (f) dependent. So, six choppy sentences
that didn’t display how all the informaon related became three more complex sentences that cohere more clearly.