RUN-ON SENTENCES and COMMA SPLICES and

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
RUN-ON SENTENCES and COMMA SPLICES
Run-on sentences can be divided into two types.
• The first occurs when a writer puts no mark of
punctuation and no coordinating conjunction
between independent clauses.
• The second is called a comma splice, which
occurs when two or more independent
clauses are joined by just a comma and no
coordinating conjunction.
 Examples
• The flowers are beautiful they
brighten the room. (Incorrect)

• The flowers are beautiful, they

brighten the room. (Incorrect)
Examples of correct alternatives:

• The flowers are beautiful. They brighten

the room.
• The flowers are beautiful; they brighten
the room.
• The flowers are beautiful, and they
brighten the room.
• The flowers are beautiful because they
brighten the room.
 IMPORTANT
A run-on sentence is not defined by its
length!
The fact that a sentence is very long
does not automatically make it a run-
on sentence.
The sentence structure and use of
punctuation determine whether a
sentence is a run-on.
 IMPORTANT
A simple sentence is made up of only one
independent clause. An independent clause is a group of
words that contains a subject and a predicate and forms
a complete thought when standing alone. The subject
refers to someone or something (the subject contains at
least one noun or pronoun). The predicate refers to what
the subject does or is (the predicate contains the verb or
verbs). Both the subject and predicate can contain
additional descriptive elements, such as adverbs,
adjectives, prepositions, or other modifying phrases, but
in its most basic form the subject is the part of the
sentence that contains the noun, and the predicate
contains the verb.
• When looking at the structure of
an independent clause, it is
helpful to look at all elements of
the subject separately
from all elements of the
predicate.
• Together, the subject and
predicate form the two basic and
separate parts of each clause.
 Clause
The kind man and his wife studied hard for the test
and read a book.
• Subject : The kind man and his wife
• Predicate : studied hard for the test and read a
book.
The man, his wife, and their child studied hard,
read books, and ate dinner.
• Subject : The man, his wife, and their child
• Predicate : studied hard, read books, and ate
dinner.
• The kind man studied hard his wife read a
book. (Incorrect)

Without the correct separation, the two

independent clauses written together form
a run-on sentence.
Once you can identify a run-on sentence by its
incorrect structure, it is not hard to find a way
to correct it.
• If the independent clause forms a complete
thought, a period/STOP (.) at the end
demonstrates that the sentence is complete.
• Run-ons and comma splices occur when more
than one subject/predicate pair exists in the
sentence.
• When one subject/predicate pair is followed by
an additional subject/predicate pair within one
sentence (forming separate independent
clauses), they need to be separated (or joined)
according to very specific rules of punctuation
and grammar.
When two independent clauses appear in one sentence,
they must be joined (or separated) in one of four ways:

1. The two clauses can be made into two separate

sentences by adding a period.
2. The two clauses can be joined by a comma and a
coordinating conjunction (comma plus: and,
but, or, nor, for, so, yet).
3. The two clauses can be joined by a semicolon.
4. The two clauses can be rewritten by adding,
changing, rearranging, or deleting words.
The simplest way to accomplish this is to add a
subordinating conjunction between the clauses.
 Semicolons in Sentences
• Semicolons are one of the commonly misused
members of the punctuation tribe.
• Semicolons are used to match two independent
clauses.
• Do not capitalize the first word of the second clause.
• Semicolon is used when you’re dealing with two
complete thoughts that could stand alone as a
sentence.
Why not use a period, then?
• Semicolons represent two closely linked
independent clauses.
• Dad is going bald; his hair is getting thinner and
thinner.
• You should stop eating so much food; you will have to
go on a diet.
• We had too many fumbles; we lost the game.

• You need new brakes; otherwise, you may not be able

to stop in time.
• Star Trek was my favorite television show during the
1960s; in fact, it is my favorite television show of all
time.
• I had a huge meal; however, I am already hungry again.
• Inserting a semicolon between independent
clauses creates a grammatically correct
sentence.
• Using a semicolon is a stylistic choice that
establishes a close relationship between the
two sentences.
 SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
A sentence is a group of words that contains
three things:

• A subject (that makes sense with the verb

• A verb (that goes with the subject)
• A complete thought
A sentence fragment is a group of words
that lacks one or more of these three
things. While there are many ways to end
up with a fragment, almost every
fragment is simply a result of one of the
following three problems:
• It is missing a subject
• It is missing a verb.
• It fails to complete the thought it starts.
To avoid writing fragments, you must be able to
identify them in your writing and fix them.
• To begin to identify fragments in your
writing, read a sentence aloud. Does it sound
complete?
• Even if it sounds okay to you (because you
already know what you mean), look at it and
identify the subject (who or what did the
action) and the verb (what the subject did).
 Missing subjects
Some fragments are missing subjects. Often the
subject appears nearby, perhaps in the
preceding sentence; however, each sentence
must have a subject of its own.

• Was running late that day.

• I was running late that day.

Phrases which include words ending in -ing
often appear as fragments:
• Biking and swimming after work on Thursday.
Who?
Raja went biking and swimming after work on
Thursday.
• To register for class before the deadline.
(This fragment lacks both subject and verb).
Rani hopes to register for class before the
deadline.
 Missing verbs
Some fragments are fragments because they are
missing a verb or an essential part of a verb.
Any phrase, no matter how long, is a fragment
if the verb is missing:
• The Birch trees with their rattling yellow
leaves.
• The Birch trees with their rattling yellow leaves
swayed in the wind.
Some verbs require helpers in order to be
complete. Words ending in -ing, for example,
must include helpers such
as is, are, was, were, will be, or has been to
be real verbs; without these helpers, they are
not verbs.
• Caroline studying her sociology tonight at
Moxie's downtown.
• Caroline will be studying her sociology tonight
at Moxie's downtown.
 Unfinished thoughts
A very common type of fragment is the unfinished
thought fragment.
One can often fix unfinished thought fragments
simply by joining them to a preceding or following
sentence.
The following example, while it contains a subject
and a verb, fails to complete the thought:
• Because tuition increased again this semester.
If you find a fragment of this kind, see if the
sentence before or the sentence after it would
complete it:
• Because tuition fee is increased again this
semester, Raja has got a second job as a
Student Assistant.
Or
• Rani must take fewer units because the
tuition increased again this semester.
If the preceding or following sentence does not
complete the unfinished thought, add the
missing information to the fragment to make
it complete.
There are many words that, by their mere
presence, make a clause incomplete, for
example:
since, while, when, unless,
• In spite of the rules of grammar, language
can be shaped a great many ways, so for
any fragment problem, many solutions exist.
• The more you practice writing, the more
you will be able to spot fragments and fix
them.
• And the more you learn about English, the
more ways you will find to make your
grammatically correct sentences say
exactly what you mean.
 Review
1. An independent clause contains one
subject/predicate pair and expresses a complete
thought.
2. A simple sentence is made up of only one
independent clause.
3. A run-on sentence is made up of two or more
independent clauses that are not joined correctly
or which should be made into separate sentences.
A run-on sentence is defined by its grammatical
structure, not its length.
4. A comma splice is the incorrect use of a
comma to join two independent clauses.
5. A compound sentence contains two or more
independent clauses that are correctly joined
by a comma plus a coordinating conjunction
or by a semicolon.
6. A comma and a coordinating conjunction can
connect independent clauses correctly. There
are seven coordinating conjunctions
(sometimes remembered by the acronym
"fanboys"): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
7. A complex sentence contains one independent clause and
one or more dependent clauses. The dependent
clause begins with a subordinating conjunction.
8. A subordinating conjunction connects a dependent clause
to an independent clause. The dependent clause cannot
stand alone; it requires attachment to an independent
clause in order to express the complete meaning of the
sentence.
Some examples of the most common subordinating
conjunctions:
after, although, as, as if, because, before, even
though, if, in order that, rather than, since, so
that, than, that, though, unless, until, when,
whenever, where, wherever, whether, while