Question

Name the academic writing error in the sentence below.

In this case, the defendant was innocent, his lawyer made sure that the case was solid.


Comma splice


Run-on sentence


Sentence fragment


Unclear reference


Concord error


American spelling

Answer 1

The error in the sentence is a **comma splice**. A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined with just a comma without a coordinating conjunction. In this case, "the defendant was innocent" and "his lawyer made sure that the case was solid" are both independent clauses. To correct it, you could use a period, a semicolon, or add a coordinating conjunction (e.g., "and").