Run-On Sentence

 

 

A RUN-ON SENTENCE is two or more simple sentences joined together incorrectly.  They are written as if they were one sentence.  The writer forgot to include proper punctuation.  All RUN ON SENTENCES can by fixed by adding the correct punctuation.

 

EXAMPLE OF RUN-ON SENTENCES:

I really like to eat chocolate cake vanilla cake is also okay.  [There are two sentences run together.  The first is I really like to eat chocolate cake.  The second is vanilla cake is not one of my favorites.]

 

Correcting RUN-ON SENTENCES:

        1. Use a comma and a conjunction to join the two run-on sentences together.

 

        Conjunctions:  and, but, for, so, or, yet, nor 

 

      I like to eat chocolate cake, but vanilla cake is also okay.  

          

 

      2. Turn the two run-on sentences into two separate sentences by adding punctuation            marks.

      EXAMPLE:

      Helen is always gossiping I do not gossip at all.  [Helen is always gossiping          is one sentence and I do not gossip at all is the other]  You can fix this run-on sentence        by turning it into TWO separate sentences:

      Helen is always gossiping.  I do not gossip at all.

 

     3.  Use a semi-colon ( ; ) to join the two sentences together: 

      Helen is always gossiping; I do not gossip at all.

 

     4. Re-write the sentence:

     Because Helen always gossips, I do not gossip at all.  Helen is always                   gossiping was turned into an adverb clause which is then added to the sentence I do             not gossip at all.

 

 

 

Homework

 

PAGE ONE

 

Fifteen of the following sentences are run-on sentences.  Please correct each one of them on the lines below on your own paper.  Use all three ways to correct run-on sentences at least three times each (period, semicolon, comma plus coordinating conjunction).

Five of them are correct.  Write a C under each correct sentence.

 

1. My father retired from the Air Force last year he is writing a book about his experiences.

__________________________________________________________________________

2. Jeff mowed the grass this morning tonight he will water the flowers and bushes.

__________________________________________________________________________

3. The small girl seemed to be lost, she was crying and looking for her mother.

__________________________________________________________________________

4. Mrs. Dawson inherited a large sum of money from her brother she can buy a new car now.

__________________________________________________________________________

5. Kathy and Jerry worked very hard on their project therefore they felt they deserved a high grade.

__________________________________________________________________________

6. I can never beat my little brother at video games, he has them all mastered.

 __________________________________________________________________________

7. Dave is flying to Orlando for spring break, he will be gone a week.

__________________________________________________________________________

8. We are moving to Cincinnati in July I'll go to school there.

__________________________________________________________________________

9. The storm passed quickly through the area last night, and it caused a lot of damage.

__________________________________________________________________________

10. We will be on vacation next week we will be unable to attend your party.

__________________________________________________________________________

11. We bought shoes, luggage, hats, and swimsuits at the mall fortunately, we have a large trunk in our car.

__________________________________________________________________________

12. I didn't think it would be necessary to take my umbrella; after all, the sun was shining when I left home.

__________________________________________________________________________

13. Most of my study time is spent on biology it's my toughest class.

__________________________________________________________________________

14. My car ran out of gas therefore I was late for my appointment.

__________________________________________________________________________

15. A fifth-grade student from our school won the spelling competition; she spelled words I had never heard before.

__________________________________________________________________________

16. My younger brother collects aluminum cans to recycle and is saving the money for a new computer.

__________________________________________________________________________

17. Jerry's dad is a pilot for a large airline sometimes he is gone for several days at a time.

__________________________________________________________________________

18. My family reunion is in three months I wonder if everyone will be there.

 __________________________________________________________________________

19. I've missed several classes because I was ill I hope I will pass English class.

 __________________________________________________________________________

20. Jeff is planning on going to Las Vegas for vacation; he'll need to take a lot of money.

     __________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

DIRECTIONS

 

Decide which of the following groups of words are run-on sentences.

_ If the group of words is a correct sentence, write S; if it is a run-on, write R-O.

_ Revise each run-on sentence by (1) making it two separate sentences; (2) inserting a semicolon,  or (3) using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.

 

______ 1. Brown bears include the grizzly and the kodiak, the largest brown bear is the kodiak.

______ 2. Kodiak bears weigh as much as 1,700 pounds, they grow to a height of ten feet.

______ 3. Bears can live more than 30 years in the wild.

______ 4. Bears’ sense of smell is more developed than their hearing or sight.

______ 5. Females give birth to as many as four cubs, the cubs stay with their mother two

or three years.

______ 6. Many people are afraid of bears, encounters with bears are actually infrequent.

______ 7. Grizzly bears are solitary animals, they do not want to interact with people.

______ 8. Generally, bears attack only when they are surprised, or when they are protecting

their young.

______ 9. People should always store food and garbage properly, bears could be attracted by

the smell.

______ 10. Never try to outrun a bear, it can run more than 30 miles per hour.

School in 11. ______ Munich was too rigid and boring for young Einstein he did not do well.

______ 12. However, young Einstein showed a talent for mathematics, at the age of 12,

he taught himself Euclidean geometry.

After finishing secondary school, he entered the 3. ______ 1Federal Polytechnic Academy

in Switzerland, he did not like the teaching methods there.

______ 14. The academy frustrated him he could learn in a way that interested him.

______ 15. Einstein chose to educate himself, he missed classes often and spent the time studying physics on his own.

______ 16. His professors had low opinions of him, he graduated anyway in 1900.

In 1905, he published a paper on physics the 7. ______ 1University of Zürich awarded him a Ph.D. for this work.

______ 18. In the same year, he published four more papers that presented new thoughts on the

nature of light and other important concepts.

______ 19. Physicists resisted his ideas at first, eventually his general theory of relativity was

confirmed through observation.

______ 20. Einstein achieved international recognition, in 1921 he received the Nobel Prize

in physics.

 

 

 

 

 

In teaching others we teach ourselves"  - Proverb