Oh, conjunctions

Remember conjunctions, those cute little words that we use along with a comma to bond two separate sentences? Aren't they neat? Here's that list again, in case you'd forgotten:

For
And
Not
But
Or
Yet
So


These are the only conjunctions that exist. Do not try to use any other word as a conjunction. Remember how we talked about this with "then"? If you use a fake conjunction, you create a comma splice, like so:

I heard a Rihanna song twice in one hour, then I took some Tylenol for the pain.

Since "then" isn't a conjunction, this is a comma splice. Right? You know this. Really, you do. If you don't, you haven't been paying enough attention to this blog. Please study and return to this lesson when you're ready.

Anyway, you know what word also isn't a conjunction? "Because." It's not. That means that if you put a comma in front of because, you're creating a comma splice. Really. Watch:

I am going to New York City, because I want to see "The Book of Mormon" on Broadway.

See how there's a comma before "because"? Well, that makes this a comma splice. And comma splices, as we all know, are the work of the devil.

So don't put a comma before "because," okay? It's just wrong, and because most people know it's wrong, you'll look extra incompetent if you do it.