Definition:
A sentence in which two independent clauses are run together (or "fused") without an appropriate conjunction or mark of punctuation between them. Fused sentences (also known as run-on sentences) are generally treated as errors. See also:
Examples and Observations:
- You can only be young once you can be immature forever.
- "of course i have an iphone,a kindle, a g10, etc i love new technology but await convergence"
(Martha Stewart on Twitter, May 27, 2009) - " . . . I hate people that have always their poor story to tell everybody has their own troubles that poor Nancy Blake died a month ago of acute pneumonia well I didn't know her so well as all that she was Floeys friend more than mine . . ."
(James Joyce, Ulysses, 1922) - "Adding a period between the clauses is one way to correct a run-on sentence. . . . Other options are to add a comma and a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) between the clauses, to add a semicolon, or to add a semicolon with a conjunctive adverb, such as therefore or however."
(Gerald Alred, et al., Handbook of Technical Writing. Bedford, 2006) - "The presence or absence of a comma--and therefore the distinction between a run-on sentence and a comma splice--isn't usually noteworthy. So most writers class the two problems together as run-on sentences.
"But the distinction can be helpful in differentiating between the wholly unacceptable (true run-on sentences) and the usually-but-not-always unacceptable (comma splices) when (1) the clauses are short and closely related, (2) there is no danger of a miscue, and (3) the context is informal. Thus, 'Jane likes him, I don't.' But even when all three criteria are met, some readers are likely to object."
(Bryan A. Garner, Garner's Modern American Usage. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003)
Also Known As: run-on sentence, run-together sentence
