Category Archives: independent clause

Dear BPE: "So" Confusing

In this series of posts, I’ll respond to questions about all things editing. I recently received the following e-mail:

In an assignment to correct sentence fragments and run-on sentences, my third grader wrote, ‘The crow believed what the fox had said, so she decided to sing for him.’ Her teacher corrected it to, ‘The crow believed what the fox had said. So, she decided to sing for him.’ What level of umbrage do you feel is appropriate? I’m having trouble finding a rule to cite, but at the very least prefer the uncorrected version.

I also had trouble finding a rule to cite. It’s tricky because “so” can be used as both a conjunction and an adverb to mean “therefore.” When used as a coordinating conjunction, as in the daughter’s example, a comma is used to join the independent clauses. When used as a conjunctive adverb, as the teacher has done, a semicolon or period is used.

I wish I could provide a more clear-cut answer. If my fellow editors have any insight to share, please do! (For the record, I prefer the daughter’s sentence as well.)

Handy Hint: Commas and Conjunctions

Most editors have strong opinions about whether to place a comma before a conjunction in a series. To put it simply, those who favor The Chicago Manual of Style use one (eat, drink, and be merry), and those who follow The Associated Press Stylebook don’t (eat, drink and be merry).

But what about when a conjunction connects two complete thoughts (also known as independent clauses)? As a general rule, if the part of the sentence that comes after the conjunction can stand by itself, use a comma. For example, “Chicago style recommends the serial comma, but AP style doesn’t use one.”