College Composition / Unit 7 CMP 0152 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Commas With Coordinating Conjunctions
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The idea
Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses.
In practice
"Businesses are growing, and unemployment is down." Each side has a subject and a verb, so the comma goes before and.
Where people slip
Without the conjunction, the comma alone makes a comma splice, and without the comma, long clauses can run together.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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