Read the following sentence. Then, answer the question. Ben wants to go to the zoo but his sister is not feeling well. Which statement is correct? No comma is needed because a dependent clause follows an independent clause in this sentence. A comma is needed in this sentence after the word "but" to separate the two independent clauses. No comma is needed because this is a simple sentence that expresses only one idea. A comma is needed after the word "zoo" to separate the two independent clauses joined by the conjunction.

No comma is needed because a dependent clause follows an independent clause in this sentence. The sentence is structured with "Ben wants to go to the zoo" as the independent clause and "but his sister is not feeling well" as the continuation of that thought, which doesn’t necessitate a comma. A common mistake in sentence composition is misunderstanding the need for commas with conjunctions. In this case, “but” is connecting two thoughts, but since the second clause depends on the first, a comma is not required. Always remember that clarity in sentence structure helps maintain the flow of your writing!