19. Coordinating Conjunctions and Comma Splices. English Grammar Lesson

[Tomorrowmayb2late]

I wish you had been my English teacher years ago, Who knows I probably would have been a stronger writer today.

[BSANTIAGO8533]

WHEN IM GOING TO END A SENTENCE BUT I STILL HAVE A EXPLAIN THE SENTENCE DO I JUST ADD A COMMA OR I PUT A PERIOD THEN FINISH EXPLAINING THE SENTENCE?

[mrthoth]

@BSANTIAGO8533 It all depends on what that explanation consists of--an independent clause, a dependent clause, a phrase, etc. One cannot say, "Explanations are preceded by commas" or anything like that. It depends on grammar, not rhetorical function. We cannot say, "Explanations are punctuated this way" or "Apologies are punctuated that way," etc.

[BSANTIAGO8533]

@mrthoth Thank you very much

[770buddyboy]

thanx dude



[MrDevin666]

You're much more better than this famous "Grammatically Correct" book I'm reading, you're much more clear and to the point. I tip my hat to you sir.

[the3hobo]

When do you use a comma? In the phrase, "it is sad, yet funny," you put in a comma before yet. However, in the phrase "He ran out of the house and into the woods," you did not put a comma. When should one be used?

[2k8bomb]

Very good video, I like it. <--- That would be a comma splice wouldn't it? :P

[awsome2Dmax]

this was actually really helpful



[gmsherry1953]

I assume it is NOT a comma splice if there are three or more independent clauses and only the last two are joined by a coordinating conjuction? "Zoltan took office, I left the country, my friends all followed me, and the economy collapsed" would be all right? Also, of course, you didn't mention the pseudo-intellectual's (i.e. my) best friend, the semicolon. "Zoltan took office; I left the country." Thanks for your videos; I am enjoying them very much. (That's another example.)

[meltingwindfarm]

i like your videos. i'll send my students to them. i also like the fact that you are Mr. Thoth, and that you left the country when Zoltan took office.

[mrthoth]

Comma splices are errors. They are unacceptable, for just the reasons you present. Thanks for your comment!

[psydwaindah]

At the end he says adding ,"becuase" to the beginning of the first independent clause turns it into a sentence fragment and therefore a comma can be used (just fine) to join it and the independednt clause, but a comma splice cannot be used.....

[TheLarssan]

Thanks. :)

[ricardoquail]

Very helpful and easy to understand!

Thank you

[tdog661]

totally fanboys mrthoth!

[tdog661]

who"s zoltan?

[tdog661]

who's zoltan?

[sevenpointfiveounce]

Hi, can someone please help me write the following sentence? "I am 5' 7", 100-and-some-odd pounds." After the quotation mark noting inches, where does the comma go? After or before the quotation mark? And is it "100-and-some-odd pounds," or "100 and some-odd pounds." Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!!!

[ww2airborne]

I am 5' 7" and 100-and-some-odd pounds.

no comma

[davidwilliampowell]

@sevenpointfiveounce As mrthoth said, co-ordinating conjuctions can join two items of the same grammatical class; for example, two adjectives or two prepositional phrases. "five foot seven inches" and "100 ... pounds" have the same grammatical form, so there's no need for a comma between them. It's just a short list of two items, which you should connect with a simple "and".

[davidwilliampowell]

@sevenpointfiveounce 2.

You have two devices that indicate approximation: "-and-some" and "-odd" - with this difference, though: "-and-some" implies "more than stated". The suffix "-odd" simply means "approximately". I wouldn't use them both, but you could, this way: "... and 100-odd pounds - and then some". The co-ordinating "and" in the original sentence then sounds clumsy, so I'd use two sentences.

[davidwilliampowell]

@sevenpointfiveounce 3. There's a lot of meaning in making the comment that your'e definitely over 100 pounds in this way; it deserves a separate sentence. I guess the "and" is no longer co-ordinating parts of equal status. Even if they're technically both noun phrases (I'm not sure how we classify attributed measures), the second one is out-of-balance. However, "I am 5' 7" and 100-odd pounds" is quite OK.

[calle1323]

thanks

[happigolucki34]

You are awesome.  Thanks so much for the lesson.

[jurandirbeline]

muito bixoso. defende a classe oh

[smosh1million]

thanks so much! I used to get 4's on my essay, and after I did this I am getting 5's!!! My only problems were with comma splices. You explained this to me way easier than my teacher did!!!

You're the Best!!!!

[RnBhbic87]

i was having problems with comma splices, so my professor decided to show me this video and i am glad she did!!! if it wasn't for you i'd still be creating "B" papers instead of "A" papers; comma splices were bring down my grade a lot. thank you soooooooooooooooo much! i love this video!

[nicosheldonflorendo]

You a teacher? because, i wish they explained this to me,like you did.

[geetarbeetar]

Lot's of help, thanks.

[ilkdaddy]

Please just stoppit

[sw1e6hq]

Mrthoth, Can you separate two independent clauses with a coordinating conjuction and dispence with the comma?

Fabulous stuff by the way. My Internet went down the other day and I didn't care about my emails but got withdrawal symptoms from a lack of your vids.

[utuser101]

It's when I try to spot clauses in natural, contextualised language I struggle. Consider

"BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, has closed a nickel refinery in Western Australia for about four months while it rebuilds a smelter furnace, sending the price of nickel soaring." I think in this example "closed" is a past participle and accordingly should indicate dependent clause but it has to be an independent clause because it expresses a complete thought, right? Help please :)

[mrthoth]

The sentence you provide is one independent clause, and it contains one dependent clause within it ("while it rebuilds a smelter furnace"). The verb in the independent clause is "has closed". "Closed" is a past participle, but the presence of a past participle does not indicate the existence of a dependent clause. I would hate to try to explain what an "incomplete" or "complete" thought is. It's better just to say that an independent clause can stand alone as a sentence.

[utuser101]

Thanks mrthoth! Your explanation has helped me. I'll continue to watch your tutorials closely.

[visi0nX]

Lol this is awesome. I feel like I'm in school again. Definitely a good refresher on my school-less brain. Subscribing.

[Teddygram51]

Hi there, I was wondering are imperative commands, for example "get it!", considered independent clauses. The fact that most omit the subject makes it confusing.

In addition, you said "Good news!" in your last reply on this page. Im not sure if that's considered an interjection, however, would that be an idependent clause?

Overall, in the examples above, are they both considered sentence fragments if they are not independent clauses.

Thank you for your time. Your videos Rock!

[mrthoth]

Thanks for your comment. In English, the subject in imperative sentences (commands) are assumed. So "Get it!" really means "[You] get it." Thus it does count as an independent clause. "Good news," however, is not an independent clause. Much of the time we speak in sentence fragments. If asked, "Where are you going," a natural response would be "Home." But "Home" isn't an independent clause. What one means, however, is "[I am going] home." Context provides the missing material.

[Teddygram51]

Hi there, I was wondering are imperative commands, for example "get it!", considered independent clauses. The fact that most omit the subject makes it confusing.

In addition, you said "Good news!" in your last reply on this page. Im not sure if that's considered an interjection, however, would that be an idependent clause?

Overall, in the examples above, are they both considered sentence fragments if they are not independent clauses.

Thank you for your time. Your videos Rock!

[Teddygram51]

Hi there, I was wondering are imperative commands considered independent? The fact that most imperative Commands, for example "Get it!", omit the subject which makes it confusing.

In addition, you said "Good news!" in your last reply on this page. I'm not sure if that's an interjection, however, would that be considered an independent clause as well?

Overall, in the examples above, are they considered sentece fragments if they are not independent clauses?

Thank you for your time. You rock!

[Jakethegreat69]

Do you think you could put up a video of Subject complement noun and Subject complement adjective? That would be helpful. You are a good teacher. Sometimes my teacher is really confussing when it comes to explaining this stuff. He goes really, really fast. So any information you could give me would help me with that. And one more thing isnt part of speech, and the 8 parts of speech the same thing? Well please let me know. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[mrthoth]

Good news! The videos you request are already up. You can find them by searching for "subjective complement". I handle adjectives and nouns in that one. Now the other matter: in traditional grammar there are eight parts of speech (noun, adverb, adjective, verb, preposition, conjunction, interjection, pronoun), so each of those eight things is a part of speech (the noun is a part of speech, the adjective is a part of speech, etc.).

[Jakethegreat69]

Thank you for your help, and i look forward to more videos from you. Thanks once again. Bye, Jake