This document provides information on run-on sentences and how to identify and correct them. It defines run-on sentences as two or more complete sentences run together without proper punctuation or conjunction. There are two main types of run-ons: fused sentences with no punctuation between complete ideas, and comma splices which incorrectly use only a comma to join two independent clauses. The document then discusses four ways to correct run-ons: using a period, using a comma plus conjunction, using a semicolon, or using subordination. Examples are provided to illustrate each correction technique.

1. RUN-ON SENTENCES

2. VOCABULARY
• Valuable- means a thing that is of great worth.
Ex. He made many valuable contributions to the field of
science.
• Ambiguous-means something is unclear and/or
difficult to understand
Ex. Although much of the story remains ambiguous, the
action, much of it terrifying, lends the story palpability.

3. REVIEW
Combine and write the sentences correctly.
1. I am a teacher. My wife is a lawyer.
2. She tried to lift the suitcase. It was heavy.
3. She drop her phone. It broke.
4. I am not very hungry. I’ll just have an orange juice.
5. I told my roommate to turn off the TV. He didn’t. I got up and left.
6. When I got home from work yesterday. I watched TV for an hour.
7. Let me know if you need help.
8. If it rains tomorrow. Bring your umbrella you might catch a cold.

4. Answers:
1. I am a teacher. My wife is a lawyer.
I am a teacher, and my wife is a lawyer.
2. She tried to lift the suitcase. It was heavy.
She tried to lift the suitcase, but It was heavy.
3. She drop her phone. It broke.
4. I am not very hungry. I’ll just have an orange juice.
5. I told my roommate to turn off the TV. He didn’t. I got up and left.
She drop her phone, and It broke.
I am not very hungry, so I’ll just have an orange juice.
I told my roommate to turn off the TV, but he didn’t, so I got up and left.

5. Answers:
6. When I got home from work yesterday. I watched TV for an hour.
When I got home from work yesterday, I watched TV for an hour.
7. Let me know if you need help.
She tried to lift the suitcase, but It was heavy.
8. If it rains tomorrow. Bring your umbrella you might catch a cold.
If it rains tomorrow, bring your umbrella, or you might catch a cold.

6. RUN-ON SENTENCES

7. RUN-ON SENTENCE
Two or more complete sentences are run together with no adequate
sign given to mark the break between them.
Two Types of Run-ons:
Fused sentence
Comma Splice
These are two major errors in writing.

8. FUSED Sentence
• A fused sentence has no punctuation to mark the break between two
complete sentences.
• Where does the fused sentence occur?
• In 1996, Larry Page and Sergei Brin started out as graduate students
at Stanford University they ended up founding Google.

9. Comma Splice
• A comma splice uses a comma incorrectly to connect two complete
sentences.
• A comma alone is not enough to connect two complete sentences.
• Note the comma that creates the comma splice:
• In 19967, Larry Page and Sergei Brin started out as graduate students
at Stanford University, they ended up founding Google.

10. Why is it called a “Comma Splice?”
Splicing wire or Gene splicing-It means join/ connect.
A comma splice is so named because it basically describes the error of
trying to “tape” or “join” with a comma alone, which is incorrect:
Caressa’s favorite summer food is ice-cold watermelon, however, Matt
prefers sweet cantaloupe.

11. Four Ways to Correct Run-ons (Fused
Sentences and Comma Splices)
• Use a period and a capital letter to separate the two complete
thoughts.
• Use a comma and a joining word to connect the two complete
thoughts.
• Use a semicolon.
• Use a subordination.

12. 1. Use a period and a capital letter to separate
the two complete thoughts.
• In 19967, Larry Page and Sergei Brin started out as graduate students
at Stanford University. They ended up founding Google.

13. 2. Use a comma and a joining word to connect
the two complete thoughts.
7 Coordinating Conjunctions: Remember FANBOYS:
For-means “because”
And-means “in addition”
Nor-means “not either”
But-means “however”
Or
Yet-means but
So-means “as a result”

14. 2. Use a comma and a joining word (FANBOYS)
•In 19967, Larry Page and Sergei Brin started out
as graduate students at Stanford University, they
ended up founding Google.

15. 4. Use a semicolon.
• Use a semicolon to mark the break between two thoughts. The
semicolon signals more of a pause than a comma alone, but not quite
the full pause of a period.
• Use a semicolon to correct the fused sentence:
• Shawn is majoring in telecommunications he wants to become a
television anchor.

16. 4. Use subordination
• A fourth method of correcting run-on is to use subordination.
• Subordination is a way of showing that one thought in a sentence is
not as important as another thought.
• Which statement is subordinate to the other one, or “depends” on
the other one to make sense?
Because Rita didn’t want to die of lung cancer, she decided to stop
smoking.

17. 4. Use subordination
• Common dependent words (subordinating conjunctions): After,
although, as, because, even though, as, because, before, even
though, if, since, unless, until, when, while
• Use dependent word (subordinating conjunction) to correct fused
sentence:
My boss gave me smoked salmon for my birthday he knows I am a
vegetarian.

19. Read and rewrite each sentence to make it
correct.
1. She writes the music he plays the guitar.
2. It was raining, Naomi could not find her umbrella.
3. I moved to the United States when I was young it was easy to learn
English, my parents were already here, they knew English.
4. Juan and David recognized each other they had been in the first
grade together.
5. Her car would not start she was late for class.
6. The parents ate the baby slept in her stroller.

20. IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
• Fused sentences and comma splices are sometimes easier to spot if
you read your writing a loud.
• Listen for where one complete idea ends and another complete idea
begins.
• Have you marked the end of each complete idea properly? Or have
you improperly run to sentences together?