Run on sentences

A run on sentence happens when you don’t connect two independent clauses in a sentence. Usually the test for identifying a run on sentence is whether you can split it into two sentences that are each grammatically correct by themselves. Take this run on sentence for example:

Tony is going to be late for the bus, he needs a lift to school today.

This sentence is typical of a conversation that might occur between parents discussing how their son is going to get to school. While you can understand the sentence, it’s not grammatically correct, because it has two independent clauses with no appropriate ‘join’ between them. As I look at the sentence on my computer screen, Microsoft Word also realises that there needs to be something connecting the two independent clauses. It’s suggesting a semicolon:

You can try to separate the sentence to test whether it’s a run on sentence:

Tony is going to be late for the bus.

He needs a lift to school today.

Sometimes you get a run on sentence even though there appears to be a word connecting the two sentences. It’s a run on sentence though, because the connecting word isn’t a conjunction:

The criminal seemed to show some remorse in court, nevertheless, the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

The word ‘nevertheless’ is not a conjunction, it’s a conjunctive adverb. Conjunctive adverbs are not true conjunctions; they can’t function as the joining bit between two independent clauses on their own. To make them work, you need to do one of the normal things to connect independent clauses, like add a semicolon or a period.

The criminal seemed to show some remorse in court; nevertheless, the judge sentenced him to life in prison.
The criminal seemed to show some remorse in court. Nevertheless, the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

Some of the more common conjunctive adverbs are:

nevertheless, nonetheless, so, therefore, likewise, also, consequently, accordingly, besides, however, moreover, thus

Click here to move on to the next topic: Subordination