Run-on Sentences and How to Fix Them

Grade 5 English Language Arts Lesson 7

This lesson is going to focus on run-on sentences.  After you learn what they are, we’ll look at how to prevent run-on sentences and how to use conjunction to fix them.

A run-on sentence happens when two or more sentences connect without a comma or conjunction.  You’ve probably noticed this when your child or younger sibling was first learning to talk.  They just chatter away without any pauses or breaks. They talk about all different things without taking a breath. That’s similar to a run-on sentence.  All these crazy ideas and different subjects together in one long, continuous sentence.

The easiest way to stop a run-on is to make it into a compound sentence by using a conjunction. Remember that a conjunction joins two ideas together.  Conjunctions can turn an incorrect sentence into a compound sentence that is correct.

For example, “The man drinks tea on the bench the woman has plants to plant”.  You probably noticed that there are two different things happening here.  There is too much going on in this sentence, but it is easy to fix it using a conjunction. “The man drinks tea on the bench and the woman has plants to plant.”  The “and” that was added joined these two thoughts into a compound sentence that is no longer run-on.  Yes, there are two very different things happening but they’re happening at the same time. Conjunctions can make a broken run-on sentence make more sense.  Adding in the “and” fixes things.

Another way to fix a run-on sentence is to divide it into two separate sentences. Not every run on sentence needs to be broken into two or more sentences.  Sometimes a conjunction is better, especially when there is something common in the sentence.

“The girl has a cake the presents came from her friends.” This run-on sentence has two separate ideas smashed together and sounds strange.  There are two different subjects that aren’t really related to one another.   Although they are at a birthday party, the sentences are still separate.  Breaking the statement into two sentences would work. “The girl has a cake. The presents came from her friends.”  In this case a conjunction doesn’t work.

A third way you can fix a run-on sentence is with a comma.  Commas are used a lot when there are three or more related things, like in a list.

“The girls have blocks and rings and a toy guitar.”  There are three different things that the girls are playing with and they are all related.  It is easy to fix this sentence by turning the items into a list with commas.  “The girls have blocks, rings, and a toy guitar.” makes a lot more sense.

A little tip, if you have more than one and the sentence is probably wrong. Yeah, there are long sentences that are grammatically correct with several “and”s in them but simple sentences won’t have more than one. Run-on sentences have too many different things going on.  There should only be one basic thing happening per sentence, no matter how long or short it is.

The three ways to fix a run-on sentences are:

1. Make it into a compound sentence.  If the sentence has two subjects that match or there are two activities happening at the same time then a conjunction can be added to connect the two ideas.
2. Separate it into two or more sentences.  When there is no connection between the sentences you can break them into their own parts and make them into their own sentences.  This is best when you have slightly different ideas or subject in the run-on sentence.
3. Use commas.  The final way to fix a run-on is to use commas to make a list.  If all the things are related or things are all happening at the same time, a list can bring everything together and fix the sentence.

Time to practice.  Fix the run on sentences below using one of the three options you just learned.

1. Some dancers wear special shoes, the fabric is soft.
2. John is a police officer, his badge tells his rank.
3. Clowns paint their faces, and they wear funny costumes and colorful wigs.
4. Ana often walks in the mud her boots keep her feet clean.
5. Chris is a teacher his hair is long.
6. The artist uses brushes and canvas and watercolors.

“Some dancers wear special shoes and the fabric is soft.” If you used a period to break this sentence, the second part of the sentence would have become a fragment.  “The fabric is soft” has no subject. “And” can be used because the sentence is still talking about the shoes so the thoughts can be connected with a conjunction.

“John is a police officer. His badge tells his rank.” Here there are two separate ideas that can be broken into their own sentences. The period adds a pause that just sounds natural as you move from one of the new sentences to the other. The ideas don’t go together so the pause sounds right.

“Clowns paint their faces,  and they wear funny costumes, and colorful wigs.” Putting aside the fact that clowns are creepy, this sentence has a list of related things so commas can fix it.

“Ana often walks in the mud. Her boots keep her feet clean.” This is another example where there were two separate subjects so the best way to fix it was breaking them apart.

“Chris is a teacher and his hair is long.” This sentence can be fixed by connecting is with “and”.  The second part is still referring to Chris.

“The artist uses brushes, and canvas, and watercolors.  Again, this list of things can be separated with commas.  Sometimes, the comma right before the “and” is left off.  This is called an Oxford comma and wasn’t taught for a long time. Most people have given up arguing over whether or not you need to use this comma so don’t worry if you forget it sometimes.