How To Identify And Correct Run-On Sentences
When your mind’s pushing forward to write something, it isn’t uncommon to string together words without paying much mind to punctuation. That’s one of the reasons why we always recommend proofreading with a grammar software before declaring any piece of writing finished – it may not catch every instance of misuse, but it sure can fix a whole lot of them.
One common error in this area, especially among those trying to write fast, is ending up with run-on sentences, two or more complete statements put next to each other without proper punctuation between them. This is typically an error that a grammar software can easily handle, although some cases may prove trickier than others.
The sentence “I bought a new computer this morning it broke immediately after that” is a good example of a run-on sentence, consisting of two complete sentences put side by side without anything to separate them. You can fix it easily by doing one of three things, either by:
- adding a period, as in “I bought a new computer this morning. It broke immediately after that.”
- adding a comma and a conjunction, as in “I bought a new computer this morning, but it broke immediately after that.”
- adding a semicolon, as in “I bought a new computer this morning; it broke immediately after that.”
Run-on sentences can be tricky in a few situations that might lead to leaving them overlooked. As such, you’ll need to take some extra vigilance in order to catch them when they occur. As a rule, always pay close attention to the following situations:
- When the second sentence involves a transitional word (e.g. as such, however).
- When the second sentence gives directions based on a subject on the first sentence.
- When the second sentence includes a pronoun that refers to the same subject as the first.