Comma splice Jr. advises using a semicolon, not a comma, to join two grammatically complete clauses, except when the clauses are "very short" and "similar in form", for example: Comma splices are similar to run-on sentences, which join two independent clauses without any punctuation and without a conjunction such as "and", "but" "for", etc. Sometimes the two types of sentences are treated differently based on the presence or absence of a comma, but most writers consider the comma splice as a special type of run-on sentence. According to "Garner's Modern English Usage": Comma splices often arise when writers use conjunctive adverbs (such
Comma splice splice, "Tastes in punctuation are not constant. It makes no sense to accuse Jane Austen of incorrect use of the comma, as no one would have levelled this charge against her at the time. Her conventions of usage were not ours". The author and journalist Lynne Truss writes in "Eats Shoots & Leaves" that "so many highly respected writers observe the splice comma that a rather unfair rule emerges on this one: only do it if you're famous". Citing Samuel Beckett, E. M. Forster, and Somerset Maugham, she says: "Done knowingly by an established writer, the comma splice is effective,