Recipe

Fix a run-on three ways

Use when: you've found a run-on -- two independent clauses sitting together with no legal joiner, or with a FANBOYS word but no comma in front of it

Goal: a correctly punctuated sentence, chosen deliberately from the menu of legal repairs, not just the first fix that comes to mind

Taught in Fix It Three Ways · extends Find a run-on and name its degree

1. 1

   Test each half of the sentence on its own. Does it have a subject and a verb? Could it stand alone as a full sentence? If both halves pass, and nothing legal sits between them, you have a run-on -- not a fragment, not a comma splice.

   Example

   The power went out the game stopped. Test each half. The power went out stands alone. So does the game stopped. Nothing at all sits between them. This is a first-degree run-on; the seam sits right between out and the.

   Why: the right repair depends on the right diagnosis. Diagnose it as a fragment instead and every later step is wasted.

2. 2

   Before you pick a fix, decide how the two ideas relate. Are they just sequential, better off as two separate sentences? Do they feel like two sides of one thought? Or does one cause, contrast, or set a condition for the other?

   Why: every fix in Step 3 is grammatically legal. The only real choice left is which one says what you mean. Skip this step, and you might join two unrelated ideas with a semicolon, or chop up a sentence that should flow as one.

3. 3

   Pick whichever join matches the relationship you named in Step 2.

   Example

   Applied to the power went out the game stopped: split -> The power went out. The game stopped. Semicolon alone -> The power went out; the game stopped. Comma plus FANBOYS -> The power went out, so the game stopped. Semicolon plus adverb -> The power went out; consequently, the game stopped. Subordination -> Because the power went out, the game stopped.

   • the ideas are separate, or you want short, punchy sentences — split them with a period into two simple sentences.
   • the ideas are closely related, like two sides of one thought — join them with a semicolon alone (Structure #2).
   • you want to name how the ideas relate (however, therefore, meanwhile) — use a semicolon, then the conjunctive adverb, then a comma (Structure #3).
   • a short word like and, but, so, for, or, nor, or yet already shows the relationship — add a comma right before that FANBOYS word (Structure #1).
   • one idea is the cause, time, or condition of the other — subordinate one clause: no comma if the subordinator comes second (Structure #4), a comma if it comes first (Structure #5).

   Why: each structure is fully legal on its own; that is what the five-structure rule says. Picking the wrong one is never a grammar error -- just a mismatch with what Step 2 decided you meant.

4. 4

   Read the repaired sentence back. Check it against the five legal structures. Does the new punctuation match one of them? Watch for a comma dropped after a conjunctive adverb, or left off a subordinator that comes first.

   Why: an almost-right repair still trades one error for a smaller one -- a semicolon with no comma after however, or a comma with the FANBOYS word left off. The last check has to be the same test that caught the original error.