Run-on Sentences

A run-on is two or more complete sentences that have been joined incorrectly and written as one sentence.

There are two types:

fused sentence: two complete sentences combined without punctuation (Tina is an excellent driver she has never been in an accident.)
comma splice: two complete sentences joined by a comma (Tina is an excellent driver, she has never been in an accident.)

There are four ways to correct run-ons:

Add a period (Tina is an excellent driver. She has never been in an accident.)
Add a comma and a conjunction like and, but, or, nor, so, for, or yet (Tina is an excellent driver, and she has never been in an accident.)
Add a semi-colon (Tina is an excellent driver; she has never been in an accident.)
Add a dependent word (Tina is an excellent driver who has never been in an accident.)

Here are a few good questions to ask yourself when identifying run-ons:

Read aloud and ask yourself: Do I pause in the middle? If so, it could be a run-on.
Could each part of the sentence stand on its own? If so, it could be a run-on.
Are the parts of the sentence separated by a comma and a conjunction? If so, it's probably just a good complete sentence.
Are the parts of the sentence separated by a semi-colon? If not, then it could be a run-on

Note: The word then in the middle of a sentence often indicates a run-on, as in I went to the store then I went to the post office.

Start Quiz