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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by lawyers. So, you might want to check the

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fine print before you sign.

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

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There is not much difference between entering law school and jumping into a pit of rattlesnakes,

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in fact, you might prefer the snake pit.

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There's definitely more than one snake in this pit.

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The phrase, "in fact," is coiled in the middle of this sentence, evilly plotting to throw

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us off the trail.

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See, "in fact" can sometimes function as a subordinating phrase.

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If it were doing so here, it would turn the independent clause, "you might prefer the

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snake pit" into a dependent one, meaning that the phrase would then not be able to exist

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on its own anymore.

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However, that's not what "in fact" is doing here at all. Besides acting as a subordinating

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phrase, it can also sometimes act as an introductory phrase.

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It does this here by setting the stage for "you might prefer the snake pit."

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Therefore, we know that both of our clauses here are independent, and the comma that attempts

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to connect them in the original sentence is guilty of creating a comma splice.

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Which means we can get rid of choice (A) and move on with our lives.

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Let's see what choice (C) has to offer.

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Well, it does do a good job of connecting our independent clauses with a semicolon.

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However, it messes up by not placing a comma after the introductory phrase, "in fact."

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It's crucial, for clarity's sake, that a comma always follows any introductory phrase.

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We can nix choice (D) pretty easily. While it does remember to put that crucial comma

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after our introductory phrase, "in fact," it tries to connect our two independent clauses

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with a colon.

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Colons can connect independent clauses, but only when the second clause is an explanation.

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Here, the second clause is more of a clarification, really, so the colon doesn't work.

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We've now narrowed it down to choice (B), which comes through with flying colors.

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It remembers that crucial comma after our introductory phrase, and also correctly divides

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our independent clauses with a period.

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For the record, we at Shmoop will take a metaphorical snake pit over a real one any day...

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