Editing Three Sentences in the Student Newspaper
Ms. Rivera is editing the first issue of the student newspaper with two eighth-grade editors. The draft contains these sentences: 'The robotics club meets on Tuesdays, its open to all students. Students who join must bring there permission forms by Friday. The club advisor said the first competition is in March, however the exact date is not set.' Ms. Rivera wants the editors to learn three editing moves rather than simply accept her corrections: (1) choosing the right homophone, (2) fixing a comma splice, and (3) punctuating a conjunctive adverb. She has one 30-minute session and wants the editors to explain each change to the class. The newspaper will be printed tomorrow, so the edits must be final by the end of the session. The editors are confident but often rely on what 'sounds right' rather than a rule.
1. For each of the three sentences, identify the error and write the corrected sentence. Explain the rule behind one of the comma errors.
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The robotics club meets on Tuesdays, its open to all students. Error: its should be it's (= it is). Corrected: The robotics club meets on Tuesdays; it's open to all students. The original also has a comma splice: two independent clauses joined by only a comma. A semicolon or period is needed.
Students who join must bring there permission forms by Friday. Error: there should be their (possessive). Corrected: Students who join must bring their permission forms by Friday.
The club advisor said the first competition is in March, however the exact date is not set. Error: comma splice with the conjunctive adverb however. Corrected: The club advisor said the first competition is in March; however, the exact date is not set. Or: ... in March. However, the exact date is not set.
Rule for the 'however' error: however is a conjunctive adverb, not a coordinating conjunction. It cannot join two independent clauses with only a comma. Use a semicolon before it and a comma after it, or end the first sentence with a period.
2. One editor says, 'The comma before "however" is just a pause, so it's fine.' How would you respond using a rule and a clear test?
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I would say: a comma can mark a pause, but punctuation in edited writing also marks grammatical boundaries. The test is to remove however and see whether two complete sentences remain: 'The club advisor said the first competition is in March' and 'the exact date is not set.' Both can stand alone, so they are independent clauses. A comma alone cannot join two independent clauses; that is a comma splice. However is a conjunctive adverb, so it needs a semicolon before it (or a period before it) and a comma after it.
A second test: try substituting a coordinating conjunction such as but: '... in March, but the exact date is not set.' That works with a comma because but is a coordinating conjunction. However does not have that joining power. The pause test is unreliable because many pauses do not require commas, and many required commas are not audible pauses.