From a Substack article:
The company tried to maximize clicks with shallow gimmicks, when it should have been worrying about the articles themselves.
As always, it's a common error because people just don't know how to use this device (but I just used the device* correctly in this very sentence!).
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*"Device" is obviously a vague term, and that's on purpose. Am I talking about a turn of phrase? Punctuation? Something else? Only the Shadow knows.
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Obviously, I'm no expert. When I looked at the sentence in question, the comma seemed off to me. But what is the fix? Personally, I'd probably write it as two separate sentences (leaving out the "when"). Or maybe try a semi-colon instead of a comma.
ReplyDeleteOkay, well, you knew I was going to cheat. I just ran the sentence through Grammarly. It removed the comma. When I inserted a semi-colon, it didn't object. It also seemed to like my two-sentence idea. So, I guess the answer is to lose the comma and do whatever you want.
Removing the "when" and writing the text as two sentences is a good solution. Changing the comma into a semicolon is ungrammatical: the "when" clause is a dependent clause, and a semicolon can only be used between two independent clauses. The most basic solution is to remove the comma. If the dependent clause comes second, there's no need for a comma. Once again:
ReplyDeleteIf you do that again, I'll kill you.
I'll kill you if you do that again.
The above are examples of complex sentences, i.e., sentences with one independent and one dependent clause. You can recognize a dependent clause because it has a subordinating conjunction introducing it: if, when, because, although, unless, what, who, whom, etc. Dependent clauses are not complete thoughts; they can't stand alone, which is why they're called "dependent." Independent clauses can stand alone as complete thoughts.
If you do that again = dependent clause, incomplete thought
I'll kill you = independent clause, complete thought
What is a clause? A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb. See Commas, Part 2.