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Difficulty: MediumSentence Fragments, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices

Consider the following draft sentence from an essay on historical linguistics:

"Tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles; nevertheless, recent computational algorithms have enabled researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy, however, these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions."

Which of the following options provides a grammatically correct revision of the sentence?

  1. Although tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles, recent computational algorithms have enabled researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy; however, these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions.Answer
  2. B
    Tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles, nevertheless, recent computational algorithms have enabled researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy, however, these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions.
  3. C
    While tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles, and recent computational algorithms enabling researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy, although these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions.
  4. D
    Tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles, nevertheless recent computational algorithms have enabled researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy; however, these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions.
  5. E
    Tracing the evolution of phonological shifts across isolated dialects presents significant methodological hurdles; nevertheless, recent computational algorithms have enabled researchers to reconstruct ancestral sound changes with unprecedented accuracy, moreover, these models still require validation against manual textual transcriptions.

Answer

The grammatically correct revision replaces the comma splice before 'however' with a semicolon and converts the initial clause into a subordinate clause starting with 'Although'.
The correct revision resolves the comma splice by using the subordinating conjunction 'Although' to turn the first idea into a dependent clause, and using a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb 'however' to connect the final independent clause. This ensures every clause boundary follows standard English punctuation rules.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the independent clauses and transitional adverbs in the original sentence.
The original sentence contains three independent clauses connected by conjunctive adverbs: 'nevertheless' (preceded correctly by a semicolon) and 'however' (preceded incorrectly by a comma).
Conjunctive adverbs such as 'however', 'nevertheless', and 'moreover' cannot join two independent clauses with a comma alone.
2
Evaluate the punctuation surrounding the conjunctive adverb 'however'.
Joining the clause ending in 'unprecedented accuracy' to 'these models still require...' using a comma and 'however' produces a comma splice.
When a conjunctive adverb links two independent clauses, it must be preceded by a semicolon or period, not a comma.
3
Select the option that fixes the boundary error while preserving proper clause relationships.
The revision beginning with 'Although' subordinating the first clause and placing a semicolon before 'however' establishes clear syntactic hierarchy and eliminates all comma splices.
Subordinating one clause with 'Although' removes the need for 'nevertheless', and using a semicolon before 'however' properly joins the remaining independent clauses.

Key Concept

Sentence Boundaries and Conjunctive Adverbs
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Topics

Sentence Fragments, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices

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