Repairing Run-On Sentences [Logo]

After each run-on sentence below select the remedy that would best repair that sentence. (The remedy will show only enough of the sentence to indicate what was wrong and how to fix it.) If the sentence is correctly written the way it stands, select the first option. The explanation will attempt to justify our editing of that sentence. If you choose the correct response, it might still be a good idea to consult the explanation, to see if your explanation is the same as our explanation. If you look at the explanation before coming up with the right answer yourself, we can't be responsible for the horrible consequences.

1. Judy leads a charmed life she never seems to have a serious accident.
This sentence is correct
life, she
life; she
Responses:

2. The airport is about to shut down because of the snow and if the plane doesn't land soon it will have to go on to Boston.
This sentence is correct
snow, and
snow; and
snow. And
Responses:

3. The show begins at 7:30 make sure you're there before 7:15.
This sentence is correct
7:30, make
7:30. Make
Responses:

4. Marcellino always knew his way around the woods this is something he could always depend on.
This sentence is correct
woods; this
woods, this
Responses:

5. Having prepared himself well for the realtor exams and having exhausted everyone in the family with his requests that someone help him with the true-and-false drills, Jeffrey, who had never been a particularly good student in high school, knew he was ready to take on the greatest challenge of his life.
This sentence is correct
drills; Jeffrey
Jeffrey -- who had never been a particularly good student in high school -- knew
Responses:

Questions 5 through 10 are based on an exercise on Fused Sentences in The Little, Brown Handbook by H. Ramsay Fowler and Jane E. Aaron, & Kay Limburg. 5th ed. HarperCollins: New York. 1995 (289). By permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc.

6. Throughout history money and religion were closely linked there was little distinction between government and religion.
This sentence is correct
linked because there was
linked, there was
Responses:

7. The head of state and the religious leader were often the same person all power rested in one ruler.
This sentence is correct
person, all
person; all
Responses:

8. These powerful leaders decided what objects would serve as money their backing encouraged public faith in the money.
This sentence is correct
money. Their
money, their
Responses:

9. Coins were minted of precious metals the religious overtones of money were then strengthened.
This sentence is correct
metals, the
When coins were minted of precious metals, the . . . .
Responses:

10. People already believed the precious metals to be divine so their use in money intensified its allure.
This sentence is correct
divine, so
divine; so
divine their
Responses:


Run-On Sentences

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Guide to Grammar and Writing