Choosing Among Corrected Versions

In practice

This worked example is constructed for this course. The original sentence is a comma splice: "The library extended its hours, students used the extra time to study." Consider four corrections. Version one: "The library extended its hours. Students used the extra time to study." Correct, but the link between the two facts is only implied. Version two: "The library extended its hours; however, students used the extra time to study." Correct punctuation, but however signals contrast, and there is no contrast here, so the meaning is wrong. Version three: "The library extended its hours, and students used the extra time to study." Correct, and and presents the facts as related events. Version four: "Because the library extended its hours, students had extra time to study." Correct, and it states the cause, but it changes the second clause from what students did to what they had, which shifts the meaning slightly. Choosing among them, version three keeps the original meaning and supplies a fitting connection; version one is acceptable but flatter; version four alters the claim; version two is wrong because of its transition. The method is the same each time: confirm the grammar, then test the connecting word against the meaning, then prefer the version that changes the writer's claim least.