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English 1b3 Posted 16 years ago
Grammar

Imperative sentence + Main Clause

a. Make no mistake, this is a challenging industry,

b. Make no mistake. This is a challenging industry.

Which is correct?

To my knowledge, we treat imperative sentences as indpendent clauses (see examples below), and therefore sentence a is a comma splice. But it just seems silly to separate it from the succeeding clause...

Stop that! I don't want you getting hurt.

Please come with me. I get lonely travelling on my own.

Wait. I think I forgot my wallet. (Maybe a comma is used here...)

Thanks
  

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How would you feel about a colon?

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5 Answers
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How would you feel about a colon?
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I just used a full stop to include all forms of punctuation that can separate two main clauses: semi colon, dash, colon...

I must admit, I don't really like the idea of a colon, nor a full stop, for that matter. They look unnatural. The comma is my favorite, but if it's wrong...

You?
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I like the colon - first I tell you not to make a mistake, and then I elaborate by telling you what you should not be mistaken about.
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Colon or period, but no comma!
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Although I believe imperatives are an exception to the rule when it comes to coma splices because they have a stronger impact when used as intentional coma splices, but there are 3 ways to make them grammatically correct. For me, the first two keep the impact, but the third one loses it because it is a full stop.
  • Adding a coordinating conjunction:
Make no mistake, becau
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