Ever read an essay or an online article and wondered whether both the writer and the editor were asleep before it was submitted or got published online? Grammar mistakes are natural, and even the most experienced student or content writer can make them. However, a piece of work littered with grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors not only has the potential to damage the writer’s credibility but also the institution or platform on which it has been published on.
Talking about grammar and punctuation errors, one of the most replicated punctuation mistakes is the incorporation of independent clauses in a single sentence without punctuation. Even from an elemental perspective, this is a grave mistake, and as a writer, you should avoid it at all costs.
And that’s where a run-on sentence checker comes in. Unlike Microsoft Word, comma splice and fused sentence checkers use advanced syntactic recognition algorithms, letting you identify even the most subtle grammar errors in a text. Along with allowing you to check for run-on sentences on your work, these online tools also incorporate sophisticated correction software, which helps improve the quality of your writing significantly.
In this article, we are going to look at run-on sentences, the negative effects of having them in your work, and how you can avoid them with the help of run on sentence fixer.
Definition of Run-on Sentences
Also known as fused sentences, run-on sentences are characterized by the fusion of two complete sentences without using a period, semicolon, or coordinating conjunction. The biggest reason why run-on sentences are considered grammatically incorrect is that they distort sentence structures, making them appear clumsy. Along with that, they also weaken the narrative of your text, as well as make it hard to read. For example:
Incorrect: It was cold she danced in the rain.
Incorrect: Dad did not drive to work the roads were too congested.
As you can see, the first two sentences in the above-shown examples are grammatically incorrect because they have fused two independent clauses.
When Comma Splice and Fused Sentence Checker Is Needed
Unfortunately, when trying to correct run-on sentences, many people tend to turn them into comma splices by separating the two independent clauses using a single comma. But no matter how you look at it, fixing run-on sentences using a single comma is incorrect.
Here is an example of a comma splice:
Incorrect: I went to school, my friends were there.
Note “I went to school” and “My friends were there” are two independent clauses that can stand on their own?? This makes the sentence grammatically incorrect as it tries to merge two independent sentences using a comma.
Tips on How to Fix Run on Sentences Online
As a student or content creator wondering how to fix a comma splice or a run-on sentence, there are five main methods to use. And for purposes of clarity, we are going to use the examples used above. They include:
- Separating the two independent clauses with a period
Using a period to split two improperly joined sentences is easily one of the most effective ways to fix comma splices and run-on sentences. It simply entails replacing the inappropriate comma with a period. And although the two independent sentences may sound a bit awkward, you are better off having them grammatically correct. Here are a few run-on sentence examples and corrections:
Incorrect: It was cold she danced in the rain.
Correct: It was cold. She danced in the rain.
Incorrect: Dad did not drive to work the roads were too congested.
Correct: Dad did not drive to work. The roads were too congested.
Comma splice example and correction:
Incorrect: I went to school, my friends were there.
Correct: I went to school. My friends were there.
2. Separating the independent clauses with a semicolon
Another simple solution to the run-on sentences and comma splice is to encapsulate your two independent ideas in a single sentence using a semicolon. In this case, our examples would appear like this:
Correct: It was cold; She danced in the rain.
Correct: Dad did not drive to work; The roads were too congested.
Correct: I went to school; My friends were there.
3. Separating the clauses with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
Just like the semicolons, coordinating conjunctions make it easier to fuse two ideas in a single sentence. The only major difference is that conjunctions allow you to relay the logical relationship between your two ideas.
Correct: It was cold, yet she danced in the rain.
Correct: Dad did not drive to work, because the roads were too congested.
Correct: I went to school, and my friends were there.
4. Using a subordinating conjunction
Subordinating conjunctions also allows you to show the logical relationship between your two ideas. The only difference between them and their coordinating counterparts is that subordinating conjunctions indicate the unequal stress of the two parts of your new sentence. The good thing is that they can be applied in two distinct ways.
Correct: Even though it was cold, she danced in the rain.
Correct: Dad did not drive to work, because the roads were too congested.
Correct: When I went to school, my friends were there.
Never Miss Comma Splices and Run-on Sentence Errors with Our Sentence Fixing Generator
Our professional paragraph fixer online free software can fully identify all forms of technical and structural errors in your work. And that includes but not limited to:
- Run-on sentences. Our professional compound sentence checker helps you to easily identify whether there are two independent clauses in your sentences that aren’t separated by the appropriate punctuation.
- Comma splice detection. Our online tool also crawls through your entire work to identify and correct comma splices in your sentences. Along with that, it also helps highlight and correct issues in compound/complex sentences.
- Sentence fragments. If you have incomplete sentences within your work, our online tool will quickly identify and help you correct them.
- Verb and subject agreement. One of the most common mistakes when writing is the interchanging of singular words with their plurals. Our tool can check, identify, and correct subject-verb agreement.
- Absence of commas after introductory words or phrases. This is another commonly occurring error in writing that our highly efficient online tool will help identify and correct.
How to Check For Run on Sentences with a Sentence Fixing Generator
Revising run-on sentences and comma splices using our software is a pretty straightforward process.
- Copy your typed text from a word processing program.
- Paste it on the online dashboard and click on the “Check your Text” button.
- Allow the tool to crawl through your work checking for problems. The check should only take a few seconds.
- Click on the highlighted problems and apply the suggested corrections or make your changes.
- Copy and paste the corrected work back into your original word processing program.
Use Run-on Sentence Checker Here and Now
Avoiding run-on sentences and comma splice is sometimes difficult, especially when you are trying to identify them manually. Fortunately, you no longer have to hand in or publish a poorly written paper or article, thanks to online checking tools like our run on grammar and punctuation corrector.
Our run-on sentence fixer will not only help you identify faulty stylistic elements in your work such as run-on sentences, comma splices, redundancies, and repetitions. It also generates detailed texts, words, sentences, and paragraphs statistics, as well as providing synonyms for different words.