ShmoopTube

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Heres your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by lukewarm water. Two questions: who the

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heck is Luke, and why does he love room temperature water?

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How would you correct the following underlined portion from the passage? Does it need correcting?

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Here, we need to know the protocol for using a little word named "then." Though it

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may seem like an innocent little fella, it can put us on the fast track to Comma Splice

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City if we're not careful.

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See, "then" is what's known as a conjunctive adverb, a part of speech used to join words,

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phrases, or clauses and to help the author clarify what he or she is saying. Some of

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"then's" conjunctive adverb friends include "however," "also," and "nonetheless."

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Knowing that "then" is a conjunctive adverb allows us to knock out (A) and (B) simultaneously.

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An important rule to remember is that a conjunctive adverb can't link two independent clauses

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without the help of a semicolon. Both (A) and (B) attempt this feat with nothing but

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a comma, which turns our sentence into a dreaded comma splice.

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Choice (D) makes a noble attempt by placing a period between the two independent clauses.

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If we don't want to put a semicolon before our conjunctive adverb, the alternative is

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to place a period before the adverb. Thus, we sever the two independent clauses, allowing

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each one to be its own sentence.

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However, choice (D) bungles the job by placing the period after the word "then," instead of before it.

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Leaving "then" attached to the first clause actually turns the first clause into a fragment,

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or a sentence that can't stand on its own as a complete sentence.

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Though a sentence fragment would correspond well with the author's fragmented psyche during

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the cat-washing attempt, that doesn't make (D) the correct answer.

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(C) is the right choice because it correctly places the period before the word "then."

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It also remembers to place a comma after "then," which is always necessary when a conjunctive

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adverb kicks off a sentence. With this punctuational nip/tuck we now have a clearer understanding

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of the soothing relationship of coconut shampoo, lukewarm water, and rubber mats.

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Personally, we can't imagine a situation in which we'd by comforted by a rubber mat.

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