When ending a sentence, we use stop punctuation – a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. A comma is not stop punctuation.
Look at this incorrect sentence: Today is Thursday, I have volleyball practice.
Two complete thoughts have been connected with a comma. It’s easy to think we can join two thoughts together by putting a comma in between, but this is a grammar error called a comma splice. Anytime you use a comma where a period should go, you have used a comma splice. Do no end a complete thought with a comma. Do not join two complete thoughts together with only a comma.
There are two ways you can fix a comma splice.
1- End each complete thought with a period (stop punctuation).
Today is Thursday. I have volleyball practice.
2 – Use a coordinating conjunction (one of the FANBOYS) with the comma
Today is Thursday, so I have volleyball practice.
Avoid using a comma to end a complete thought (a comma splice). Use a period to end a complete thought. Use a comma and one of the FANBOYS to join two complete thoughts.
▶It’s your turn. Fix this comma splice run-on sentence by either making it two sentences or using a comma and a conjunction to join the two sentences. Bob is tall, he likes to play basketball. Did you figure it out? Good for you!