Run-On
Shorthand: 鈥渞鈥�
This rule may seem obvious, but it can be easy to violate. You can usually correct run-on sentences by breaking them into two or more separate sentences; however, other methods include inserting a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, or yet), inserting a semicolon, or subordinating one clause to another. For the run-on sentence — There is a blizzard I don’t want to go to class. — one could employ any of the following solutions:
- There is a blizzard. I don’t want to go to class.
The two clauses are separated into two sentences. - There is a blizzard, so I don't want to go to class.
The two clauses are separated by a comma and the coordinating conjunction so. - There is a blizzard; I don’t want to go to class.
The two clauses are separated by a semicolon. - Because there is a blizzard, I don’t want to go to class.
Because subordinates the first clause to the second.
See also Punctuation, (“p”) Comma Splice (“cs”) and Semicolon (“semi”).
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