Like this Panda, sometimes our sentences keep going and going. They are run-ons or have other major problems.
Let’s look at a few sentences and you tell me if there are any problems:
Sentence 1: I went to McDonald's today and the people in the car in front of me paid for my food but I didn’t know them.
Sentence 2: The simplest act of kindness doesn’t take much time the impact can last for a long time.
Sentence 3: That was a true story, I still can’t believe that it really happened.
What do you think? Are there any problems?
If you guessed the all these sentences are wrong, you are correct.
In this lesson, we will look at two of the biggest grammatical problems in written English: run-ons and comma splices.
I.Definition of the Problems. Let’s first look at a definition of these problems. Run-ons and comma splices occur because of a lack of understand of compound sentences (two sentences) and what goes in between them. You can put fanboys (for/and/nor/but/or/yet/so) or a semicolon (;) between them. These are the only two ways you can grammatically connect two sentences. Transitions like however logically connect two sentences but don’t grammatically connect them.
When we look at the definitions and examples, please don’t try to fix them. You need to be able to identify the problem first before you fix them. If you try to do both at the same time, you tend to get confused. Let’s look at the problem and how it occurs.
Let’s look at run-ons. There are two types of run-ons:
A.The first type of run-on occurs when we have 3 sentences by adding fanboys (for/and/nor/but/or/yet/so) or a semicolon (;).
In spoken English, we often create 3 sentences by adding and, so or but.
Look at sentence 1 again: I went to McDonalds today and the people in the car in front of me paid for my food but I didn’t know them.
How many sentences do we have? 3.
The first sentence is “I went to McDonald's today.” The second sentence is “the people in the car in front of me paid for my food.” What’s the third sentence? “I didn’t know them.”
In spoken English, we can keep combining by adding these words like and, so or but. In written English, we can’t have 3 sentences. We can only have 2.
We could have a list of 3 sentences but that is not very common.
We could write the following:
I went to the store, I talked to the cashier and I bought some groceries.
We have 3 sentences. The first sentence is “I went to the store.” The second sentence is “I talked to the cashier,” and the third sentence is “I bought some groceries.” Notice that I only used one fanboys and that was “and.”
We could write that list of 3 sentences, but we tend to shorten it to the following:
I went to the store, talked to the cashier and bought some groceries.
B. The second type of run-on occurs when you have two sentences and no punctuation in between them. You can’t do that in written English.
Do you remember sentence 2?
The simplest act of kindness doesn’t take much time the impact can last for a long time.
Where does the second sentence begin? It begins where you see the 2nd subject and verb. The second sentence is “the impact can last for a long time.”
The problem is there is nothing between those 2 sentences.
The simplest act of kindness doesn’t take much time the impact can lasts for a long time.
C.Now, let’s look at comma splices. A comma splice occurs when two or more sentences are joined together with only a comma. The sentence is spliced or cut in two by the comma.
Here is sentence 3 again: That was a true story, I still can’t believe that it really happened.
Where does the second sentence begin? I still can’t believe that it really happened.
Now what is between the 2 sentences? Only a comma. You can’t put just a comma between two sentences.
That was a true story, I still can’t believe that it really happened.
II.Fixing These Problems.
How do you fix these problems? The good news is that most people don’t create all these problems. Some only create the first type of run-on or the second type of run-on. Some only create comma splices.
A.First, you need to be able to figure out whether you create run-ons and/or comma splices. How can you do that?
You can take a little quiz and see if you have problems recognizing the problems and correcting them. If you have problems correcting them, you probably create these problems.
Please write in the space provided RO for run-on, CS for comma splices and C for correct. Please just identify the problem by looking for where the second sentence begins. Once you find where the 2nd sentence begins, ask yourself this question - "What do you see as far as punctuation?" If you see a comma, then put CS in the blank because it is a problem with a comma splice. If you see no punctuation, then it is a run-on so put RO in the blank. If you see only one sentence, then it is not a run-on or comma splice because run-ons and comma splices are only problems with two or more sentences and not just one sentence. Okay, let’s take this quiz from one of my favorite Ted Talks. Please identify the problems and don’t worry about correcting them. Why? You won’t make all these mistakes and we need to learn how to fix your mistakes. First, we need to find out if you even make them.
1._____ One of my favorite TED Talks is about lollipop moments these moments are the little things you do that make others happy.
2._____The speaker tells a story about a time that he made a difference in a girl’s life however he has no memory of it.
3._____This girl was a college student and she had decided that she was going to come home and she was going to quit college.
4._____College wasn’t for her.
5._____The speaker gave her and others a lollipop, he gave a lollipop to a guy and ask him to give it to the girl.
6._____He shyly looked at her then he gave it to her.
7._____The speaker jokingly said to the girl that she was taking gifts from a stranger, everyone there laughed.
8._____The speaker didn’t remember that experience, but later the girl told him about it.
9._____She also said that she was dating that guy who gave her the lollipop they later decided to get married.
10.____The speaker tells the story about that moment to say that we can all make a difference it doesn’t have to be in a big way.
11.____He just gave out lollipops that day, it made all the difference.
How did you do?
1.RO. (The second sentence begins after lollipop moments and there is no semicolon or fanboys between the two sentences).
2.RO. (The second sentence begins after paper and there is no semicolon or fanboys between the two sentences. The word “however” logically connects the 2 sentences but doesn’t grammatically connect them).
3.RO. (This sentence has 3 sentences. The first sentence is “This girl was a college student.” The second sentence is “she had decided that she was going to come home.” The third sentence is “she was going to quit college.”).
4.C. (This sentence is correct. There is only 1 sentence).
5.CS. (The second sentence begins after lollipop and the comma inappropriately is between them. We can put a comma with fanboys. We can’t put just a comma).
6.RO. (The second sentence begins after her. The word “then” logically connects the two sentences but doesn’t grammatically connect them).
7.CS. (The second sentence begins after stranger and the comma inappropriately is between them. We can put a comma with fanboys. We can’t put just a comma).
8.C. (The second sentence begins after experience. There are two sentences and it correctly has a comma plus the fanboys “but” connecting the two sentences).
9.RO. (The second sentence begins after lollipop and there is no semicolon or fanboys between the two sentences).
10.RO. (The second sentence begins after difference and there is no semicolon or fanboys between the two sentences).
11.CS. (The second sentence begins after day and the comma inappropriately is between them).
If you had problems, you probably have problems with run-ons and/or comma splices.
B. If you had problems, you want to email me samples of your writing, so we can determine whether you create run-ons and/or comma splices. I can also determine the cause of the problem.
Many times you can do it through vocabulary. Please know that oftentimes when students create these problems they do it because they thought a vocabulary word or expression connected the sentences grammatically. Just recognizing the word or words that caused it can help you fix the problems.
For comma splices, learning the comma rules can help you. Remember a comma splice is considered a more serious error because it suggests that the writer doesn't know where a sentence begins or ends.
You can enable grammar check as it typically does catch run-on and comma splice errors. If you don't know how to enable it on your computer, please message me for help. You can also google how to enable grammar check and the type of computer you have. Sometimes grammar check will let you know you have these problems but not always.
C.Then I can show you how to fix the problem you have.
1.If you have the first type of run-on and create 3 sentences, you can delete one of the fanboys or semicolon and put a period.
2.For the second type of run-on and for comma splices, you can correct both of them in the same way.
You can put a period in between the two sentences.
You can put a semicolon in between the two sentences. This is what a semicolon looks like ; Please note that we don’t use semicolons much because they prevent us from using more sophisticated grammatical structures.
We can use fanboys which is for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.
We can change the fanboys to a clause like changing “for” to “because” or “but” to “although.”
Optional Quiz:
The exercise below is taken from an old Seinfeld episode. I chose it because I would like to teach a little bit about American humor. To create humor in this situational comedy, they are using gender stereotypes and taking a common situation and taking it to extremes. Before you watch the video, you might need to know some vocabulary.
Here are some vocabulary words or expressions you might not know:
Eileen: I can’t believe this. What a dope. Excuse me. I’m sorry. This is kind of embarrassing but there’s no toilet paper in here.
(Dope means what an idiot or how stupid).
Woman: Are you talking to me?
No, I’m sorry. I can’t spare it.
(I can’t spare it means that I have some but not enough to give away for another person).
Eileen: I only need 3 squares.
(Toilet paper comes in squares)
Woman: I don’t have it.
Eileen: If it’s two ply, I’ll take a ply.
(Expensive toilet paper can be separated by hand into more sheets. Inexpensive toilet paper has only 1 sheet or ply).
Please watch the video and don’t think about grammar. Just think they are taking a common situation and going to extremes on it. This is one way we create a sarcastic sense of humor.
Okay, now let’s do an exercise to see if you create these problems and which type you create. To do the exercise, we need to identify the problem. Don’t worry about fixing it.
Please write in the space provided ro for run-on, cs for comma splices and c for correct. Please just identify the problem by looking for where the second sentence begins. Once you find where the 2nd sentence begins, ask yourself this question - "What do you see as far as punctuation?" If you see a comma, then put CS in the blank because it is a problem with a comma splice. If you see no punctuation, then it is a run-on so put RO in the blank. If you see only one sentence, then it is not a run-on or comma splice because run-ons and comma splices are only problems with two or more sentences and not just one sentence.
1.______ A woman whose name is Eileen is in the bathroom however there is no toilet paper.
2.______ She went into a bathroom stall with no toilet paper, she feels like a dope.
3.______ She wants some toilet paper she asks the lady next to her for some.
4.______ The lady isn’t very nice, she says no.
5.______ In the other stall in extreme desperation, Eileen begs for some toilet paper.
6.______ The lady who is not very nice leaves she goes and talks to her boyfriend.
7.______ Eileen later leaves the bathroom, she talks to her boyfriend.
8.______ Her boyfriend seems to be obsessed with himself and so he asks for popcorn and he doesn’t buy her popcorn.
So let’s see how you did.
1.RO (The second sentence begins after bathroom. However is a transition and it logically connects the two sentences. It doesn’t grammatically connect them).
2.CS (The second sentence begins after paper and the comma inappropriately is between them. We can put a comma with fanboys. We can’t put just a comma).
3.RO (The second sentence begins after paper and there is no punctuation between the two sentences).
4.CS (The second sentence begins after nice and the comma is inappropriately between them. We can put a comma with fanboys. We can’t put just a comma).
5.C (There is only one sentence so it can’t be a run-on or comma splice. They are problems with 2 or more sentences).
6.RO (The second sentence begins after leaves).
7.CS (The second sentence begins after bathroom and there is a comma there).
8.RO(There are 3 sentences with fanboys).
If you have these problems, you want to email me or someone else writing samples so they can determine what type of problem you have. Then they can determine the best way to help you.