<h2>Identifying a run-on sentence</h2>
Run-on sentences occur when multiple independent clauses are combined in a single sentence without the proper punctuation or conjunctions.
⇒ Her car would not start she was late for class.
Here, the two independent clauses are:
- Her car would not start
- She was late for class
<h2>Correcting run-on sentences</h2>
⇒ Her car would not start she was late for class.
There are multiple ways we can approach correcting this sentence.
<h3>Using a period</h3>
Firstly, we could use a period to separate the clauses:
- Her car would not start. She was late for class.
<h3>Using a semicolon</h3>
We could also use a semicolon in the same manner:
- Her car would not start; she was late for class.
<h3>Using a comma and a conjunction</h3>
This method makes the most sense for this example, as it poses a "cause-and-effect" scenario.
- Her car would not start, so she was late for class.
Some other conjunctions include:<em> therefore, and, because</em>
<em />
<h3>Using a conjunction at the beginning of the sentence</h3>
This is similar to the previous rule, but the conjunction is now in a different place. We often have to change the conjunction to make the sentence make sense:
- Because her car would not start, she was late for class.
