Run-On Sentences: Problem
Run-On Sentences: Problem
Run-On Sentences: Problem
Problem
A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are not joined correctly. An
independent clause is a group of words that can stand alone as a sentence, as in, The dog
runs. Your writing may be confusing or unclear if independent clauses are joined incorrectly.
There are two types of run-on sentences: fused sentences and comma splices.
A fused sentence occurs when independent clauses run together with no marks of punctuation
or coordinating conjunctions to separate them.
A comma splice occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined only by a comma.
Solution
Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, yet, so, or, nor, for). When you
join two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, place a comma before the
coordinating conjunction.
Use a semicolon (or, in some cases, a colon or a dash). You can use a semicolon alone or
with a transitional expression (e.g., however, at any rate, in contrast, as a result, etc.).
Run-on: It seemed to Wanda that her daughter had more than enough crayons,
they were strewn across the bedroom floor and some of them were
broken, and, worse still, someone had used the stub of a red crayon to
mark a sinister smiley face on the wall.
Correction: It seemed to Wanda that her daughter had more than enough crayons.
They were strewn across the bedroom floor, and some of them were
broken. Worse still, someone had used the stub of a red crayon to mark
a sinister smiley face on the wall.
Restructure the sentence by subordinating one of the clauses. You can subordinate a
clause if one of the independent clauses seems less important than the other. Here are a
few examples in which one of the clauses has been subordinated (indicated here by
underlining). Note that a subordinated clause is no longer independentit cannot stand on
its own as a sentence.
Run-on: The largest tree by volume in the world is the General Sherman
Sequoia, it is a little over 52,500 cubic feet.
Correction: The largest tree by volume in the world is the General Sherman
Sequoia, which is a little over 52,500 cubic feet.
Run-on: I told the children I would read to them they said they wanted to sit by
me so they could look at the pictures.
Correction: When I told the children I would read to them, they said they wanted
to sit by me so they could look at the pictures.