Which term describes a comma used to join two independent clauses without proper conjunction?

• A. Comma splice
• B. Run-on sentence
• C. Fragment
• D. Helping verbs

Answer: (A)

Two independent clauses, each able to stand alone as a sentence, are being joined with just a comma. That creates a comma splice, a punctuation error. The comma isn’t strong enough to link two complete thoughts, so a proper fix is to add a coordinating conjunction after the comma (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) or replace the comma with a semicolon, or make them separate sentences. For example, “The sun had set, and the stars appeared” uses a coordinating conjunction. Without it—“The sun had set, the stars appeared”—the sentence becomes a comma splice. A run-on is a broader term for sentences that run together in other ways, but the specific mistake here is the comma splice.