Run-On or Fused Sentences

A run-on sentence is not a sentence that runs on with more words than a sentence should comfortably hold. A run-on sentence, better named a fused sentence, results when two complete sentences are jammed together without adequate punctuation or a suitable connecting word or phrase. This creates a problem for the reader, who does not know where one idea ends and another begins.

Run-on or fused sentences frequently result from a writer's attempt to show that two ideas are closely connected. This is a good logical and stylistic strategy, but the principles of sentence structure demand that you show where one idea ends and another begins, or indicate that two ideas are linked together.

Often a run-on sentence can best be repaired simply by placing a period where the first sentence ends and an initial capital on the first word of the next sentence:

	The room is hot and stuffy I need some fresh air.
	The room is hot and stuffy. I need some fresh air.

Sometimes a comma before an and, but, or so is needed to join two independent clauses that are closely related in thought:

The room is hot and stuffy, so I need some fresh air.

For more complex fused sentences, a transitional word or phrase is needed, preceded by a comma or semicolon. This strategy not only properly links the two sentences, but often clarifies the meaning:

	The room is hot and stuffy; consequently, I need some fresh air.
	The room is hot and stuffy, so much so that I need some fresh air.

Practice Exercises (12 questions)

Recognizing and Repairing
Run-Ons

One strategy for recognizing a fused or run-on sentence is to look for another subject in the sentence, someone or something that is doing something or is in a particular state or condition. When you find the second subject, mentally place a period after the words that precede it. If the result is two complete sentences, then your original sentence is probably a run-on:

Bloggins left his beret on the bus he lost his gloves during the march.

Bloggins is the subject of one sentence here; the pronoun he is the subject of the next sentence. Placing a period after the word that precedes the he results in two complete sentences.

Bloggins left his beret on the bus. He lost his gloves during the march.