Run-‐on sentences can be easy to fix, but hard to spot. The reason for the difficulty is that usually we can figure out what the writer intended to say. For example:
I like to eat Henry likes to cook.
Surely you could figure out what was meant in this sentence. But just for a second didn’t you think the sentence said, “I like to eat Henry?” Then your brain unscrambled it. Your job is to make reading as clear and effortless and possible, and run-‐ons make extra work for your reader.
To indentify a run-on, look for a place where a pause occurs but no punctuation is present to indicate that pause (it may help to read your writing out loud).
However, be careful that you don’t create another problem called a comma splice. A comma alone cannot be used to join two sentences together:
Incorrect: I like to eat, Henry like to cook.
There are three ways to fix run-ons and comma splices. The first would be to split the run-on or comma splice into two sentences by adding a period.
I like to eat. Henry likes to cook.
The second method involves adding a comma and a coordinating conjunction: for, and, not, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS). However, you need to ensure that you use the right conjunction for what you want to write.
I like to eat, and Henry likes to cook. (Both of you enjoy doing different activities)
I like to eat, but Henry likes to cook. (Henry likes cooking more than eating)
I like to eat, so Henry likes to cook. (Henry cooks because you appreciate his food)
You may also use a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb: therefore, nevertheless, otherwise, etc. Just like with conjunctions, you need to select the appropriate conjunctive adverb that means precisely what you want.
I like to eat; therefore, Henry likes to cook.
For more on run-ons, check out How to Fix Run-on Sentences.
For more entertaining comics on common sentence problems, please check out Grammar Comics: Sentence Problems.
The author of this article is David Rickert, whose life could be one long run-on sentence. When not creating comics out of thin air, David teaches high school English Language Arts in Columbus, Ohio. His witty and engaging cartoons turn abstract and complicated concepts into concrete and concise images to embed content into our long term memories. Let’s face it: he makes boring topics entertaining. Check out his Grammar Comics and more resources to bring life to your ELA instruction: Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics.
