Punctuating However, Therefore, and Other Conjunctive Adverbs

"It rained, however we played anyway" puts a comma where a much stronger joint is needed. Both halves of that sentence are independent clauses, complete sentences on their own. A comma alone can't hold two independent clauses together; that's a comma splice, and 'however' doesn't fix it, because 'however' is not a true conjunction.

Words like however, therefore, consequently, and moreover are conjunctive adverbs. They describe how one idea relates to another in meaning, contrast, result, addition, but grammatically they're adverbs, not joiners. A word that actually joins clauses, like 'but' or 'so', can sit between them with only a comma. A conjunctive adverb can't carry that weight, so the clauses on either side still need a real separator: a semicolon or a period.

The fix is a pattern: semicolon, conjunctive adverb, comma. 'It rained for six straight hours; however, the match was played anyway.' The semicolon does the real work of joining the two independent clauses; the adverb just signals the relationship, and the comma sets it off before the second clause continues. Try 'The flight was full therefore we drove': it becomes 'The flight was full; therefore, we drove.' This sits next to the broader punctuation unit's logic: every mark is a joint, and the strength of the mark has to match the strength of the break it's covering.