Chapter 19: Run-Ons

Chapter 19: Run-ons

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* It’s not a run-on sentence!

The two most common errors that students make at the sentence level, and the two most noticed errors by employers (for example, a job application letter) are called Fragments and Run-ons. Chapter 18 focused on Fragments, and this chapter focuses on Run-ons.

There are many ways to connect related sentences:

· Use a Coordinating Conjunction (and, but, or).

· Use a Subordinating Conjunction (when, after, if, although, who, that, and others).

· You can use a semicolon (;).

Of course, you do not need to connect two sentences. Use a period to keep sentences apart that are not related.

On the other hand, there are two methods you should not use to connect sentences that are related:

· Never connect two sentences with a comma.

· Never connect two sentences without punctuation.

Sentences that are connected with a comma or nothing at all are called Run-ons. Here are some examples:

Run-on / I rode the bus to college, I got there on time.
Run-on / I cut the grass Leslie pulled the weeds.

It may be true that the only thing wrong with a Run-on sentence is that the incorrect punctuation is used, but unfortunately that makes all the difference! Consider James Joyce, for example. James Joyce, perhaps the most famous novelist of the Twentieth Century, badly abused punctuation – especially the period, often left out rather than put in – in his later novels. While the literary merit of books like Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake is undisputed, including the melodic flow of the sentences, it is not hard to realize that the lack of punctuation makes Joyce’s writing very difficult to understand. Here’s an example:

“…the old windows of the posadas 2 glancing eyes a lattice hid for her lover to kiss the iron and the wineshops half open at night and the castanets and the night we missed the boat at Algeciras the watchman going about serene with his lamp and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and the pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes when I put the rose in my hair like the Andalusian girls used or shall I wear a red yes and how he kissed me under the Moorish wall and I thought well as well him as another and then I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down to me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”

James Joyce Ulysses

http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Joyce.html

Portrait of the Artist, James Joyce

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Of course, novelists are allowed to break the rules of grammar that academic writers, student writers, and on-the-job writers must follow. That’s because your writing must be clear and understandable to a wide variety of audiences, and that’s why you must be able to fix Run-on Sentences. Here are the ways you can make the necessary repairs:

Method #1 Divide the Run-on sentence with a period.

The easiest way to correct a Run-on sentence is to use a period to create two full sentences. If you’re ever uncertain about how to fix a Run-on, this method always works. Of course, the downside is that you might sacrifice clarity of meaning and variety in your writing (see Chapter 11 on Style).

Here are some examples of Run-on sentences* revised by adding a period:

Run-on / Francisco saved for college, he worked overtime.
Sentence / Francisco saved for college. He worked overtime.
Run-on / At college, he spoke with an advisor he enrolled in five classes.
Sentence / At college, he spoke with an advisor. He enrolled in five classes.

*To make the Run-ons easier to spot, we’ve underlined the Subjects and put the Verbs in bold.

Practice 1. Pick-up Level Basketball

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Correct the following Run-ons by using a period to divide the two sentences.

Example

Run-on: It was a bad storm, the lights were out for over two hours.

Sentence: It was a bad storm. The lights were out for over two hours.

· As we’ve learned, first identify the Verbs, and then knowing that the Subject comes before the Verb, do a (fill-in-the-blank) to find the Subject. You know that “was” is one of the six forms of the “to be” Verb (am, are, is, was, were, will be), so “(What) was a bad storm”? “It was a bad storm,” so It is the Subject.

· Notice that there is a second Subject-Verb (lights were).

· Next, look for a Conjunction, which must come before one of the Subjects. Here are the Coordinated Conjunctions:

(and, or, but, yet, for, so, nor).

Here’s a list of the Subordinating Conjunctions:

Common Adverb Subordinating Conjunctions
after
although
as
as if
as long as
as though
because
before
even if
even though / if
if only
in order that
now that
once
rather than
since
so that
than
that / though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
while
Common ADJECTIVE Subordinate Conjunctions
Who / Which / That

· If there is no Conjunction before one of the Subjects, connecting the two sentences with a comma creates a Run-on sentence.

In this exercise, all you need to do to correct the Run-on sentence is divide the two sentences with a period.

1. Most people dream enthusiastically at night, their dreams seem to occupy hours, most last only a few minutes.

2. Dreams often feature familiar people and locations we are less willing to dismiss them outright.

3. We can't trace the content of dreams to an external source, we can't explain dreams the way we can explain random thoughts that occur to us during waking hours.

“Why Dreams Mean Less Than We Think”

John Cloud Time Feb. 25, 2009 http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1881498,00.html

Method #2 Connect the Run-on sentence with a Semicolon (;).

One purpose of the Semicolon is to connect two sentences that are related. A period divides; a Semicolon connects. Since the reason for the Run-on in the first place is that the sentences seemed to be related, a Semicolon is often a good way to make a correction.

Here are some examples of Run-on sentences corrected with a Semicolon:

Run-on / Francisco wanted to save for college, he worked overtime.
Sentence / Francisco wanted to save for college; he worked overtime.
Run-on / At college, he spoke with an advisor he enrolled in five classes.
Sentence / At college, he spoke with an advisor; he enrolled in five classes.*

*Before using Semicolons in essays, here some advice: It’s easy to overuse Semicolons. Too many Semicolons make the writing seem phony, like using fancy words and phrases. Be careful not to use more than one Semicolon per page in an essay!

Practice 2. Pick-up Level Basketball

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Correct the following Run-ons by using a semicolon to connect the two sentences.

Example

Run-on: It was a bad storm, the lights were out for over two hours.

Sentence: It was a bad storm; the lights were out for over two hours.

· As we’ve learned, first identify the Verbs, and then knowing that the Subject comes before the Verb, do a (fill-in-the-blank) to find the Subject. You know that “was” is one of the six forms of the “to be” Verb (am, are, is, was, were, will be), so “(What) was a bad storm”? “It was a bad storm,” so It is the Subject.

· Notice that there is a second Subject-Verb (lights were).

· Next, look for a Conjunction, which must come before one of the Subjects. Here are the Coordinated Conjunctions:

(and, or, but, yet, for, so, nor).

Here are also the Subordinating Conjunctions:

· If there is no Conjunction before one of the Subjects, connecting the two sentences with a comma creates a Run-on sentence.

In this exercise, all you need to do to correct the Run-on sentence is connect the two sentences with a Semicolon.

1. We love to interpret dreams, those acts of interpretation give dreams meaning.

2. Human beings are irrational about dreams just as they are irrational about a lot of things we make dumb choices all the time on the basis of silly information like racial bias.

3. Subjects in an experiment were asked to estimate the percentage of African countries represented in the United Nations, a researcher spun a wheel of fortune in front of them that landed on a random number between 0 and 100.

4. People tended to pick an answer that wasn't far from the number on the wheel, the wheel had nothing to do with African countries.

Method #3 Connect the Run-On sentence with a Coordinating Conjunction.

Perhaps the most commonly used method of correcting a Run-on Sentence is by connecting the sentences with a Coordinating Conjunction. A Coordinating Conjunction is used to connect two sentences of equal importance in the writing (see Chapter 15).

Here’s a list of the Coordinating Conjunctions:

and
but
or
nor
so
for
yet

Here are some examples of Run-on sentences corrected with a Coordinating Conjunction:

Run-on / Francisco wanted to save for college, he worked overtime.
Sentence / Francisco wanted to save for college, so he worked overtime.
Run-on / At college, he spoke with an advisor he enrolled in five classes.
Sentence / At college, he spoke with an advisor and enrolled in five classes.
Fragment! / At college, he spoke with an advisor. And he enrolled in five classes.

Practice 3. Intermediate Level Basketball

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YouTube Video of some incredible “Trick Shots” in basketball (Click Here).

Correct the following Run-ons by using a Coordinating Conjunction to connect the two sentences. Add any commas that are needed.

Example

Run-on: It was a bad storm, the lights were out for over two hours.

Sentence: It was a bad storm, and the lights were out for over two hours.

· As we’ve learned, first identify the Verbs, and then knowing that the Subject comes before the Verb, do a (fill-in-the-blank) to find the Subject. You know that “was” is one of the six forms of the “to be” Verb (am, are, is, was, were, will be), so “(What) was a bad storm”? “It was a bad storm,” so It is the Subject.

· Notice that there is a second Subject-Verb (lights were).

· Next, look for a Conjunction, which must come before one of the Subjects. Here are the Coordinated Conjunctions:

(and, or, but, yet, for, so, nor).

Here are also the Subordinating Conjunctions:

· If there is no Conjunction before one of the Subjects, connecting the two sentences with a comma creates a Run-on sentence.

In this exercise, all you need to do to correct the Run-on sentence is add a Coordinating Conjunction (and, or, but, yet, for, so, nor) before the second Subject. Remember to add any commas that are needed.

Example

Run-on: It was a bad storm, the lights were out for over two hours.

Sentence: It was a bad storm, and the lights were out for over two hours.

1. We invest more meaning in dreams in which our enemies are punished, we invest less meaning in dreams in which our enemies emerge victorious.

2. We all make dumb choices we make mistakes.

3. A good night's sleep is becoming ever more elusive, it's a problem for most Americans.

4. Good sleep habits helps cognitive development in children, light-sleeping children are not doomed to not being smart.

5. Unfortunately, sleep remains elusive for many Americans, cell phones and our jobs may be to blame.

“Can't Sleep? Turn Off the Cell Phone!”

Alice Park Time Aug. 31, 2007

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1658166,00.html

Method #4 Connect the Run-On sentence with a Subordinating Conjunction.

An excellent method of correcting a Run-on sentence, because it adds to the precision and variety of your writing, is to connect the sentences with a Subordinating Conjunction. A Subordinating Conjunction is used to connect two sentences when one of the sentences is less important than, and helps to support, the main sentence in the writing (see Chapters 16 and 17).

Here’s a list of commonly used Subordinating Conjunctions:

Common ADVERB Subordinating Conjunctions
after
although
as
as if
as long as
as though
because
before
even if
even though / if
if only
in order that
now that
once
rather than
since
so that
than
that / though
till
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
while
Common ADJECTIVE Subordinating Conjunctions
Who / which / that

Here are some examples of Run-on Sentences corrected with a Subordinating Conjunction:

Run-on / Francisco wanted to save for college, he worked overtime.
Sentence / Because Francisco wanted to save for college, he worked overtime.
Run-on / At college, he spoke with an advisor he enrolled in five classes.
Sentence / At college, after he spoke with an advisor, he enrolled in five classes.
Run-on / Francisco kept an excellent GPA, he had to drop one of his classes.
Sentence / Francisco kept an excellent GPA although he had to drop one of his classes.
Fragment! / Francisco kept an excellent GPA. Although, he had to drop one of his classes.

Practice 4. Intermediate Level Basketball