Online Tutoring | Onsite Tutoring | Hours | Workshops | Employment | CAPS Home | UNM Home | Email CAPS

Run-Ons & Fused Sentences

A run-on or fused sentence joins two independent clauses—two possible sentences—with no punctuation between them.

Example: On other long walks I had sometimes lost my way without feeling worried this time I panicked.

You are most likely to find a run-on (or fused sentence) by reading your sentence aloud. Hearing a drop in your voice may indicate where an independent clause ends and another begins. When you identify that point and see no punctuation to work it, you can use one of the following methods to correct it.

1. Use a period.
   Probably the easiest way to correct a run-on (or fused sentence) is to separate it into two sentences by a period.
   Corrected: On other long walks I had sometimes lost my way without feeling worried. This time I panicked.
   Note: You may encounter run-ons that need to be separated into more than two sentences.
2. Use a semicolon.
   A semicolon can separate independent clauses that are clearly related in meaning.
   Corrected: On other long walks I had sometimes lost my way without feeling worried; this time I panicked.
3. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
   You can correct a run-on sentence by inserting a comma and an appropriate coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor) between the independent clauses.
   Corrected: On other long walks I had sometimes lost my way without feeling worried, but this time I panicked.

Back to "Grammar Help"

Center for Academic Program Support
Third Floor, Zimmerman Library, The University of New Mexico
MSC05 3020 1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-1466
Telephone: (505) 277-7205

Site Best Viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x, 5.x, 6.x; Opera 5.x, 6.x, 7.x; Netscape Navigator 6.x, 7.x