How to Correct Run-Ons When Writing Sentences
A run-on sentence fuses two complete sentences, called independent clauses, into a single sentence without using any of the conjunctions or punctuation marks that would make the sentence correct. Although run-on sentences are common, they are also easy to fix. You can split a run-on into two separate sentences or use semicolons or conjunctions to transform it into a grammatically correct compound or complex sentence.
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Instructions
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Identifying the Clauses
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Locate the verbs in your sentence. A verb is a word that expresses physical action (such as "jump," "run" or "smear"), mental action (such as "love," "impress" or "think") or being (such as "is," "become" or "seem"). Each independent clause in your sentence will have at least one verb. For instance, the run-on sentence, "I walked past the dog, it barked at me," has two verbs: "walked" and "barked."
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2
Locate the subjects in your sentence. A subject is the noun or pronoun that performs the verb. Once again, a run-on sentence will have at least two subjects. If you do not find the subjects, you will not know where to separate the sentence. In the sentence, "I walked past the dog, it barked at me," the subjects are "I" (the pronoun that performs the verb "walked") and "it" (the pronoun that performs the verb "barked").
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3
Determine the most logical way to divide the sentence into two clauses, each with its own subject and verb. You may find it helpful to draw a slash between the two clauses so you will know where to divide the sentence. For some sentences, such as "I walked past the dog, it barked at me," you can simply draw a slash before the second subject. However, because the second subject may be modified by adjectives or phrases, check the words before the second subject to make sure that none of them are describing the second subject or clause instead of the first. In the sentence, "Karen went to the movies tomorrow she'll go swimming instead," the word "tomorrow" describes when Karen will go swimming, not when she went to the movies. Therefore, "tomorrow" is part of the second clause even though it comes before the second subject.
Correcting the Sentence
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4
Divide the sentence into two separate sentences by putting a period between the two clauses. This is your best option if the clauses are particularly long, as two short sentences are easier to read than one long sentence. However, you may prefer this method even for short clauses. In the above examples, you would change the sentences in the following ways:
"I walked past the dog. It barked at me."
"Karen went to the movies. Tomorrow, she'll go swimming instead."
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5
Place a semicolon between the two clauses if a period makes the division too choppy. You do not need to capitalize the first letter after a semicolon as you do after a period. For example:
"I walked past the dog; it barked at me."
"Karen went to the movies; tomorrow, she'll go swimming instead."
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6
Put a comma and a coordinating conjunction after the first clause, if appropriate. Coordinating conjunctions are short words connecting the two parts of a sentence: for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so, which you can remember with the acronym FANBOYS. Make sure the conjunction makes sense in the context of the sentence. For instance:
"I walked past the dog, so it barked at me."
"Karen went to the movies, but tomorrow she'll go swimming instead."
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7
Put a subordinating conjunction before one of the two clauses. A subordinating conjunction is a word such as "because," "when," "if" or "although" that describes the relationship between the two clauses. Unlike a coordinating conjunction, which can only come before the second independent clause, a subordinating conjunction can come before the first or second clause. If you put it before the first clause, separate the two clauses with a comma as well. For instance:
"I walked past the dog as it barked at me."
"Although Karen went to the movies today, tomorrow she'll go swimming instead."
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Tips & Warnings
Certain words, such as "however" or "nevertheless," look like subordinating conjunctions but are not. If you separate two clauses with these words, they will still form a run-on sentence.
Do not use a comma alone to separate two independent clauses. A comma can only separate clauses when paired with a conjunction. When used alone, a comma forms a run-on sentence.
