Quiz 33 · Run-ons & Comma Splices — The Talking Hands Series

First, the idea

Quiz 32 was about pieces posing as wholes. This is the opposite injury: wholes crammed together. A fused run-on is two independent clauses with nothing between them: The mixer jammed Daniela reached for the switch. A comma splice is the same crash with a comma standing where a weld should be (a weld, on this page, is a period, a semicolon, or a comma with one of the seven joining words; a comma alone is not one): The mixer jammed, Daniela reached for the switch.

A run-on is a collision: two whole sentences and no signal between them. The comma is a hinge, not a weld — it can attach a part to a whole, but it cannot hold two whole sentences by itself.

And note what a run-on is not: long. A perfectly legal sentence can run thirty words; a run-on can be five (It jammed she fixed it). The test is structure — count the independent clauses, then check what stands between them.

The five repairs: 1. A period — two sentences. 2. A comma plus one of the seven equal-joiners (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). 3. A semicolon (Quiz 44). 4. A gripping word on one clause — subordination (Quizzes 31, 34). 5. A semicolon + a word like however + a comma (Quiz 47).

One family of words causes most splices in the wild: however, therefore, then, meanwhile, also. They feel like joiners. They are not — they're commentary, not weld. She applied, however she never heard back is a splice; however needs a semicolon before it or a fresh sentence. And the register note, as always: I'm on the train, be there soon is how the whole city texts, and the whole city understands it. The splice is a rule of formal writing — the test, the cover letter, the notice on the wall. Learn the weld cold; then decide on purpose where it applies.

Worked example — thinking out loud

The ovens run hot the crust turns gold.

You met this sentence whole in Quiz 31. Here it is injured. Run the count: verbs — run, turns. Subjects — the ovens, the crust. Each verb has its own subject, so each makes a clause. (Two verbs sharing one subject, the ovens run hot and roar, would be one clause, not two.) Two independent clauses; between them, nothing. Fused.

Now the repairs — and listen to how each one changes the meaning. The ovens run hot. The crust turns gold. — maximum separation; two facts, no stated connection. The ovens run hot, so the crust turns gold. — the Quiz 31 original: cause named mid-sentence. Because the ovens run hot, the crust turns gold. — cause announced up front. The ovens run hot; the crust turns gold. — the semicolon: joined close, connection left for the reader to feel. All four are legal. They do not all say the same thing. The GED will sometimes offer two legal repairs and ask for the most effective — the one that keeps the writer's meaning. You are the editor.

Part A · The skill by itself

1. Which of these is a comma splice?

Marisol posted the schedule, the menu, and the prices. Marisol posted the schedule, the crew checked it at dawn. Marisol posted the schedule, and the crew checked it at dawn. When Marisol posted the schedule, the crew checked it at dawn.

2. Which of these is a fused run-on?

The old mixer in the back corner jammed again during the Friday rush. The mixer jammed, so Daniela reached for the switch. The mixer jammed Daniela reached for the switch. When the mixer jammed, Daniela reached for the switch.

3. What's wrong here? She asked for Saturday off, however the schedule was already posted.

Nothing — the sentence is correct. It's a comma splice — however can't hold two sentences with only a comma. However is too formal for a schedule request. It should end with a question mark.

4. Choose the best repair: The delivery was late the bread still sold out.

The delivery was late, but the bread still sold out. The delivery was late, the bread still sold out. The delivery was late and, the bread still sold out. The delivery was late. The bread still sold out.

5. Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

We closed the register, then we mopped. We closed the register then we mopped. We closed the register, and then we mopped. We closed the register then, we mopped.

6. Identify: Marisol reads on the train, it's the only quiet hour she gets.

A correct compound sentence A comma splice A fragment A complex sentence

Part B · The skill in the wild

The letter worked: Marisol got the job. Here is her first posted notice as morning supervisor — five joins for your eye. At each dropdown, choose the version where every weld holds.

TO: Morning crew

FROM: M. Vega, morning supervisor

RE: First week

1(a. Thank you for the warm welcome I won't forget it. / b. Thank you for the warm welcome. I won't forget it. / c. Thank you for the warm welcome, I won't forget it.) A few notes as we start. 2(a. The delivery now arrives at five, so please clock in by four forty-five. / b. The delivery now arrives at five, please clock in by four forty-five. / c. The delivery now arrives at five please clock in by four forty-five.)

3(a. You may swap shifts, however you must write it on the board. / b. You may swap shifts; however, you must write it on the board. / c. You may swap shifts however, you must write it on the board.) 4(a. The ovens are on, keep the back door open. / b. The ovens are on keep the back door open. / c. When the ovens are on, keep the back door open.)

5(a. This crew taught me the mornings; now I get to return the favor. / b. This crew taught me the mornings, now I get to return the favor. / c. This crew taught me the mornings now I get to return the favor.)

— M.V.

The key — and why the tempting answers tempt

Part A

1. B. Two independent clauses — Marisol posted, the crew checked — held by a bare comma. A tempts because it's full of commas — but those are list commas between things, not clauses. One clause, three objects, no splice. The comma isn't the crime; what it's asked to hold is.

2. C. Two clauses, zero weld. A is the length trap: seventeen words, perfectly legal — one subject, one verb. A run-on is a structure, not a distance.

3. B. However is commentary, not weld. It needs a semicolon before it — ...Saturday off; however, the schedule... — or its own sentence. A tempts because the sentence sounds fine read aloud — we speak this way constantly. This is one error you catch by checking the structure, not by listening.

4. A. But welds the clauses and names the relationship between them: surprise, against the odds. D is legal — and flat. The period fixes the grammar and drops the contrast the sentence was built to deliver. When two repairs pass the grammar check, the test wants the one that keeps the meaning. (C hides a misplaced comma: the comma belongs before and, not after.)

5. C. And does the welding; then just tells the time. A is the most common splice in American writing: then looks like a joiner and isn't. Time words can't weld. Give then an and, a semicolon, or a period.

6. B. Two independent clauses, bare comma: splice. And notice — it's a good sentence, the kind people text all day, warm and clear. In the formal room it takes a semicolon: Marisol reads on the train; it's the only quiet hour she gets. Same warmth, welded.

Part B — the notice

1. b. Two whole sentences of thanks; the comma (c) can't hold them, and nothing at all (a) is worse. The period is the clean fix.

2. a. Comma + so — repair number two, live: the weld plus the reason.

3. b. The full formal treatment: semicolon before however, comma after. Option a is the exact splice from question 3 — the however family strikes in real documents constantly, which is why it gets two appearances here.

4. c. Repair number four: a gripping word turns the first clause dependent, and the collision becomes a complex sentence. Notice this repair also fixes the meaning — the door should be open when the ovens run, not as two unrelated facts.

5. a. The semicolon: two clauses that belong close, welded without a word between them. This is the join for sentences that answer each other — Quiz 44 gives it a full hour of its own.