ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by compound sentences. You can borrow ours

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for a few minutes, but they must NOT LEAVE THE COMPOUND.

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How should you change the underlined portion below, if at all?

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I didn't know which job I wanted, I was too confused to decide.

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"I didn't know which job I wanted," and "I was too confused to decide," are both independent

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clauses, perfectly capable of existing on their own.

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Although that doesn't seem true of our unemployed speaker.

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We can nix choice (A) since our original sentence is a comma splice.

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We can tell, because it tries to connect these two independent clauses with nothing more

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than a measly little comma.

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Choice (B) slams the clauses together without any punctuation at all.

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This makes it a run-on sentence and totally incorrect.

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© isn't completely off the wall. Semicolons are useful for connecting two independent

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clauses. However, (C) adds one ingredient too many with the conjunction "yet."

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When we use a semicolon to connect independent clauses, no conjunction is necessary. Therefore,

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we can take (C) out of consideration. Choice (D) correctly joins the two clauses

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by using both a comma and the coordinating conjunction "and."

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This now turns our original comma splice into a respectable compound sentence.

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Hopefully, our deadbeat speaker will find a way to become a respectable citizen as well...

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