. Identify which one of the following sentences contains an unnecessary comma. Please correct the error and explain why the correction is necessary.
a. I must have been completely absorbed in my work, because I totally forgot about the meeting.
b. Because I became completely absorbed in my work, I totally forgot about the meeting.
I'll be glad to check your answer.
Because I became completely absorbed in my work; I totally forgot about the meeting. I believe it needs a semicolon to combine the two thoughts.
No. Please go back and read the other post and the link.
The sentence that contains an unnecessary comma is:
a. I must have been completely absorbed in my work, because I totally forgot about the meeting.
The correction is to remove the comma after "work", so the sentence becomes:
a. I must have been completely absorbed in my work because I totally forgot about the meeting.
The correction is necessary because the comma in the original sentence creates a comma splice. A comma splice occurs when two independent clauses (complete sentences) are joined together with only a comma. In this case, "I must have been completely absorbed in my work" is an independent clause, and "because I totally forgot about the meeting" is another independent clause.
To correct a comma splice, you have a few options. One option is to replace the comma with a coordinating conjunction (such as "and" or "but") to create a compound sentence:
a. I must have been completely absorbed in my work, and I totally forgot about the meeting.
Another option is to replace the comma with a semicolon to create a compound sentence:
a. I must have been completely absorbed in my work; I totally forgot about the meeting.
In this case, since the second independent clause "because I totally forgot about the meeting" is dependent on the first clause "I must have been completely absorbed in my work," removing the comma and treating it as a subordinate clause is the best way to correct the error.