The Writing Center – Valle Verde
Run-ons and Comma Splices
Run-ons and comma splices are two common errors that many writers make. It's important for
writers to recognize what they are and how to solve them. This enables a writer to ensure the
ideas in their paper are far easier for the potential audience to read and understand.
Run-ons happen when two or more independent clauses are not properly separated or
connected together:
I need to go to the store I need to buy bread.
There are two independent clauses included in the sentence.
I need to go to the store
I need to buy bread
The two clauses definitely share a theme and have a connection to each other, but that doesn't
mean that they should share the same sentence without proper punctuation. The ideas are
different, and so they must be treated as such. Some writers feel like a comma is enough to
separate the independent clauses, but this creates another punctuation issue.
I need to go to the store, I need to buy bread.
This is called a comma splice. A comma is not strong enough to separate the clauses or join
them together. In order to identify a comma splice, the writer should look before and after the
comma and ask herself if the clauses before and after are independent. If they are, the comma
is a comma splice. There are several ways to resolve these kinds of grammatical errors.
Period: I need to go to the store. I need to buy bread.
Using a period separates both clauses from each other, allowing a clean and simple break. This
can be the easiest way to fix a run-on.
Coordinating Conjunction: I need to go to the store, and I need to buy bread.
In this example, the word and with the comma in front of it are used to connect both clauses.
This coordinating conjunction is simply stating that there is some sort of relationship between
both clauses and lets the reader know that they are together. There are other coordinating
conjunctions that a writer can use to connect her sentences. Think FANBOYS:
For And Nor But Or Yet So
For more information on Coordinating Conjunctions, check page 259 of A Writer's Reference,
seventh edition, by Diana Hacker and Nancy Sommers.
The Writing Center – Valle Verde
Semicolon: I need to go to the store; I need to buy bread.
A semicolon is another way to fix a run-on or comma splice issue. The semicolon can act like a
period, separating both independent clauses but informing the reader that both clauses are still
connected.
One of the last ways to solve run-on and comma splice issues is to simply change the wording,
bypassing the error altogether. There are a few different ways this can be done, but here are a
couple of simple examples:
I need to go to the store and buy bread.
I need to go to the store because I need to buy bread.
Some information courtesy of:
Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. A Writer's Reference. Boston: Bedford St. Martins, 2011. Print