Run on sentences - read and respond

A complete sentence has a subject and a verb or predicate. There are lots of different ways to make complete sentences, including using commas and semicolons to put together independent and dependent clauses. A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb. An independent clause can stand on its own. A dependent clause cannot. Take this sentence: “After we got under the covers, I told my little sister scary stories.” It has two clauses. “I told my little sister scary stories” is an independent clause.” “After we got under the covers” is a dependent clause.Sometimes a sentence has two independent clauses put together without proper punctuation. This is a mistake. It’s called a run-on sentence. You can think of it as a sentence that just keeps going, or just keeps running on. But remember, run-on sentences aren’t necessarily long sentences. Any sentence that contains two or more complete thoughts that need to be separated is a run-on.

Which of the following is a run-on sentence?

• I like eating chocolate oranges

• After the dance ended we went home to watch movies

• Soccer is my favorite sport I love watching the World Cup on TV

• Kelly is a figure skater, and one day she wants to compete in the Olympics.

One way to fix a run-on sentence is to make it into a compound sentence by adding a comma and a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or yet, so. Take this run-on sentence: “I love drinking lemonade in the summer it is so sweet and cool.” To fix the run-on, you could add a comma and a conjunction: “I love drinking lemonade in the summer, for it is so sweet and cool.”

Simply putting a comma in without a coordinating conjunction would look like this: “I love drinking lemonade in the summer, it is so sweet and cool.” This creates another kind of run-on sentence error called a comma splice.

Which of the following sentences does not show a comma splice?

• Pedro loves dogs, he wants to get a Labrador and name it Rudy.

• Sebastian has been playing guitar for years, he will soon start his own band.

• Alison can’t stand eating butternut squash, she thinks squash is mushy and gross.

• Rosie builds robots in her garage, but she is afraid that one day they will take over the world.

Another way to fix a run-on sentence is simply to make it two sentences by adding a period. Take this run-on: “My computer must have a bug it keeps crashing.” You could change it to: “My computer must have a bug. It keeps crashing.”

Another way to fix a run-on sentence is to add a semicolon. If you add a semicolon to the sentence above, it would look like this: “My computer must have a bug; it keeps crashing.”

But be careful with semicolons. They can only be used to fix run-on sentences where the two clauses are closely related. In the case of the sentence above, the idea that the computer has a bug and the fact that it keeps crashing are linked. If the two clauses are not closely related, the sentence can’t be fixed with a semicolon.

If you want to fix a run-on sentence by adding a semicolon, the clauses

• must be closely connected.

• don’t have to be connected

• need a coordinating conjunction between them

• must be a dependent and an independent clause.

It is good to avoid run-on sentences in your formal writing because they can make your writing hard to read and understand. Try reading this run-on sentence out loud: “I woke up I got dressed I hit the skate park I went home to play on my computer.” If it sounds wrong out loud, or if you run out of breath in the middle, it’s a clue that there might be something wrong with the structure of your sentence.

But remember that you can use all kinds of sentences when writing artistically. If you are writing a poem or a rap, you might find yourself using run-on sentences because they fit with the flow of your writing. If you listen closely to the way people talk, you might find that they often speak in run-on sentences. You can use them to mimic people’s speech when writing fiction or a play. Being able to identify and control run-on sentences will allow you to be effective when doing any kind of writing.

What is one reason to avoid run-on sentences in your formal writing?

• They can be used for artistic effect.

• They mimic people’s speech patterns.

• They can fit with the flow of a poem or rap.

• They can make your writing confusing and hard to follow.