Young Writers Society

Hey!

I really need some help!

What is the technical term for using a comma instead of an "and"

e.g. The cat was called Sam, it was sat on the mat.

Thanks!

~SishBee~
x

The cat was called Sam, it sat on the mat.

I'm a little confused... there shouldn't be a comma here. If anything, there should be a semicolon --> "...called Sam; it sat on the mat" because there are two phrases that could stand independently as sentences. This doesn't happen if there's just a comma there, unless there's a conjunction along with it (and, but, or, nor, etc.).

So I guess the technical term is a semicolon? Though that doesn't seem so technical...

The sentence you gave as an example is, as Melja pointed out, incorrect. It's called a comma splice if that's what you're looking for.

Good luck!
-Colleen

What is a comma splice? Example?

'The cat was called Sam, it was sat on the mat.' is a comma splice.

Twit: when there are two phrases that should have a conjunction between them but don't. Wikipedia has some good examples: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_splice

Correct usage of a comma: The cat, called Sam, sat on a mat.
Or: The cat, who sat on a mat, was called Sam.
Or: Sam, a cat, sat on a mat.
Or: The cat, who was called by the marjority of unsaid persons as Sam, sat on the mat.
Or: Upon the mat sat a cat... No, forget that last one.