This is a little presentation on
Run-Ons.
...or more specifically,
COMMA SPLICES & FUSED SENTENCES.
But first, a little refresher on sentence fragments.
If a complete sentence has to have the
right ingredients
to be complete,
And if a sentence fragment is missing a
few key ingredients,
Then a run-on sentence has too MANY ingredients.
Ok, so the ingredients of a sentence are:
A SUBJECT (the do-er
and shaker of the sentence),
A PREDICATE, aka VERB
(this is the action of the sentence)
...and a complete thought
(it cannot, for example,
contain a subordinating
conjunction, which makes
the thought incomplete).
For example:
subject
My dog Cally rolls in poop.
verb
That was a complete sentence,
composed of one independent clause.
A RUN-ON sentence is when you stick two main clauses into a sentence without a sufficient connector between them.
Like this:
The rain makes us sad, we want play in the sun.
This sentence has two independent clauses jammed together in one sentence, without enough of a signal
that one complete thought is ending,
and another is beginning.
There are two types of run-on:
a comma splice, and
a fused sentence.
A COMMA SPLICE joins
two independent clauses with
only a comma:
Cherries are in
season in July,
I usually get a bellyache
from eating too many
of them.
A FUSED SENTENCE joins main clauses
with no punctuation or conjunctions, like so:
Juan will never get on an airplane they terrify him.
So, what are we going to
do about it? Well,
we've got four options for
tackling a run-on.
grrrr!
1. First, you can stick a period between
the clauses.
Cherries are in
season in July.
I usually get a bellyache
from eating too many
of them.
2. Or you can plop a semicolon between the clauses.
Cherries are in season in July; I usually get a bellyache from eating too many of them.
3. Another possibility: use a coordinating conjunction.
The coordinating conjunctions are:
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
Just think, FANBOYS.
Cherries are in season in July,
and I usually get a bellyache
from eating too many of them.
Newsflash: You can NOT use a semicolon and a conjunction at the same time. You have to pick one or the other. No sentences that look like this...
Cherries are in season in July;
and I usually get a bellyache
from eating too many of them.
No!
4. Lastly, you can use a colon to separate the clauses...
...but only when the second clause
helps explain the first:
Serafina is gorgeous: her hair is black, silky, and long.
To review:
- A fragment lacks an essential element in a sentence.
- A run-on contains more than one independent clause jammed into one sentence, without a sufficient connector.
- There are two kinds of run-ons.
Comma Splice...
and a
Fused Sentence.
- You can fix a run-on in four ways.
- Put a period between the main clauses,
- Put a semicolon between main clauses,
- Use a conjunction of some kind (coordinating or subordinating-- your pick),
Remember what the coordinating conjunctions are?
- Or you can use a colon between the main clauses.