ANSWERS TO COMMA SPLICE EXERCISE  
 

1. Classes start on August 28^th this year, the last day of class before finals start is December 8^th. (correct)

2. I have tried to qualify for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire seven times, but I can never answer the questions quickly enough. (correct)

3. Students sometimes complain about the food in Ames Cafeteria; however, there is always something to please most students.

"However" here is a conjunctive adverb; if you take this word out, you have two separate sentences, and hence, a comma splice.  The best choice is to insert a semicolon.

4. Since Amanda has volleyball practice everyday at 3:00, she can’t take late afternoon classes. (correct)

5. Jason wants to try out for the play in the fall. He acted a lot in high school, and several people have told him he is very talented.

A comma splice occurs between "fall" and "he" here. We can correct it by separating the comma splice into two separate sentences or we could also add the word "because" into the sentence: "Jason wants to try out for the play in the fall because he acted a lot in high school, and several people have told him he is very talented.

6. Dr. Samarco will be teaching Media Ethics next semester. It’s definitely a class you should take if you are thinking of minoring in journalism.

A comma splice occurs between "semester" and "it's" in this example. The best choice is to separate the two clauses with a period.

7. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors.  I have seen Romeo and Juliet eight times because of him!

A comma splice occurs between "actors" and "I" here.  We can correct it by separating the two independent clauses with a period. We could also add a coordinating conjunction: "Leonardo DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors, and I have seen Romeo and Juliet eight times because of him!"

8. Email is changing the way we communicate in the twentieth-century, and some experts predict that people will talk to each other even less in the future. (correct)