2. Run-on Sentences
• A sentence is an independent clause.
• In other words, it can stand by itself. It is a complete
thought with a subject and a verb.
• When two independent clauses are combined
without the correct punctuation they become a
run-on sentence.
• A run-on sentence either needs to be split up into
more than one sentence, or needs different
punctuation to make it correct.
3. Examples
The sun is high, put on some sun block.
Even though this is a short sentence, it’s still made up
of two independent clauses.
You can fix it by making it into two sentences, or
adding a conjunction (we’ll talk more about
sentence combiners later.)
The sun is high, so put on some sun block.
The sun is high. Put on some sun block.
While it’s important to know how to fix run-ons…the
first step is being able to IDENTIFY them.
4. How to Answer These Questions
Correctly
1. You’ll need to be able to identify sentences
written correctly and sentences that are
fragments or are run-ons.
2. Look carefully at a sentence. Are there two
parts? Can the operate independently? (In
other words, is it really two sentences
pushed together?)
3. In the long term reading a lot will help you
start to recognize correctly written sentences
and incorrectly written sentences.
