Sentence Structure How to create complete sentences and avoid the run-on sentence.

The Run-on Sentence A run-on sentence is when two complete sentences are put together with nothing between them. Run-ons are sometimes called fused sentences because two sentences are fused or glued together into one long, grammatically-incorrect sentence!

Examples Susan walked down the road she went to the store. He went to the game he had a great time He drove he crashed Notice how each of the sentences needs something to join its phrases.

Avoiding Run-on Sentences There are 5 ways to show the boundary between sentences and avoid the creation of a run-on. ADD: 1. Period. 2. Comma and an appropriate Conjunction. (a word that joins two phrases: and, but, or, for, yet, nor or so) He drove, and he crashed. 3. Semicolon. 4. Subordinating Conjunction. (a word that joins two phrases: after, although, before, unless, since, until, when, while, if etc.) After he drove, he crashed. 5. Joining Adverb. He drove. He crashed. Adding only a comma is not enough to fix this sentence. Commas are not strong enough to join two sentences. To do so would create: He drove, he crashed. This is an error called a Comma splice. He drove; he crashed. He drove; however, he crashed.

If you run out of breath before the end of a sentence, or you notice that two or more of the phrases in the sentence do not belong together, then you may need to repair a run-on sentence! Avoiding Run-on Sentences