Run Ons and Fragments

If you want to understand run-on sentences, first you have to understand the difference between
a sentence and a fragment. Both are similar in that they contain a subject and a verb, but a sentence
can stand on its own as a complete thought, and a fragment cannot. Fragments seem to end abruptly,
and leave you wanting to ask something like and then what? To make things super clear in this
post, in the examples below complete thoughts will be (nothing) and fragments will be in italics.
Its easier to show this than to try to describe it, so here are some fragments. As you look them over,
ask yourself What is it about these that prevents them from standing alone as complete sentences?
#

even though his fans booed him

These are fragments

None of the above are complete thoughts theyre the beginnings or the ends of thoughts, but mean
very little on their own. On the SAT, if you see a fragment trying to be a sentence all by itself, you have
to fix it. Fragments are always wrong on the SAT.
A run-on (or comma splice, if you like) is kinda the opposite problem. If you come across a comma
thats separating two complete thoughts, thats a run-on. Like fragments, run-ons are always wrong
and you need to fix them.
A run-on looks like this:

WRONG!

To fix a run-on:

USE CONJUNCTIONS.
(FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

WRONG: My father smokes cigars, everything in our house smells like cigars.
RIGHT: My father smokes cigars, so everything in our house smells like cigars.
WRONG: The other day my favorite episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was on, I didnt watch it.
RIGHT: The other day my favorite episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was on, but I didnt watch
it.
WRONG: Corey stayed up until 2:00 AM last night, shes feeling very tired today as a result.
RIGHT: Corey stayed up until 2:00 AM last night, and shes feeling very tired today as a result.

USE SEMICOLONS.
(BE CAREFUL!!! On the SAT, semicolons REQUIRE complete thoughts on either side.
If theres a fragment on one side of the semicolon, its wrong.)
WRONG: Make sure your zombie survival hideout is stocked with weapons that can pierce a human
skull, the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy its brain.
RIGHT: Make sure your zombie survival hideout is stocked with weapons that can pierce a human
skull; the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy its brain.
WRONG: The hardest part of the SAT for many students is its length, the test is almost four hours
long.
RIGHT: The hardest part of the SAT for many students is its length; the test is almost four hours long.
WRONG: Yesterday I played laser tag, I won first place three times in a row against a bunch of 14 year
olds.
RIGHT: Yesterday I played laser tag; I won first place three times in a row against a bunch of 14 year
olds.
BREAK THE KNEECAPS OF ONE SIDE (CLAUSE FIX).
(If one side isnt a complete thought anymore, problem solved!)
WRONG: Students at Brown University call themselves Brunonians, its weird.
RIGHT: Students at Brown University call themselves Brunonians, which is weird.
WRONG: The flashing lights kept me up at night, I had to move the router out of my bedroom.
RIGHT: Because the flashing lights kept me up at night, I had to move the router out of my bedroom.
WRONG: The developers commentary in Portal 2 is very enjoyable, however* players should play
through the game without it first.
RIGHT: Although the developers commentary in Portal 2 is very enjoyable, players should play
through the game without it first.

* The word however is NOT a conjunction and cannot be used to fix a run-on. If its not one of the FANBOYS, dont use
it as a conjunction. Click here for more on words like however.

USE A PERIOD.
(In real life, yes of course. On the SAT Sentence Improvement section though, this is never an option.
The sentence youre improving is always going to remain ONE sentence.)
Shall we summarize?

On the SAT Sentence Improvement section, when you see a comma (yes, every time) you must ask
yourself:

And dont forget! Whenever you see a semicolon, you must ask yourself:

Dangling Modifiers
You just need to know how to spot the most commonly tested errors, and (on Sentence Improvement
and Paragraph Improvement, anyway) fix them. Ive made mention of Dangling Modifiers before in
my general Sentence Improvement post, but I thought itd be nice to devote an entire post to the little
buggers since 1) theyre fairly common, 2) theyre easy to spot with a little practice, and 3) theyre
easy to solve once youve spotted them (again, with a little practice).
Rather than try to describe exactly what a Dangling Modifier right this minute, lets just have a look at
one:
1. Believing for the first time that she could win the race, Amys speed increased despite her utter
exhaustion.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

Amys speed increased despite her utter exhaustion

So, first of all, whats the modifier? A modifier sets the scene for the sentence by giving you some extra
information about the subject of the sentence. In this case, its Believing for the first time that she
could win the race, because its giving you background about Amys motivation for increasing her
speed. A modifier often (but not always) has an -ing or an -ed word in it, and always ends with a
comma. Commas are of fundamental importance in Sentence improvement for a number of reasons,
one of which is that they signify modifiers.When you see a comma in a Sentence Completion question,
check whether it follows a modifier.

How do you check? If the sentence fragment before the comma lends itself to a who or what
question, the answer to which could be the subject of the sentence, its probably a modifier. In our
specific case, we can ask WHO believed for the first time that she could win the race? the answer
to which would be Amy.
Now heres the awesome part: if you are able to identify a modifier before a comma, the subject must
come right after the comma. If a modifier is not followed immediately by the subject, thats a Dangling
Modifier, and thats BAD. So, who believed she could win the race?Amy. What needs to come after
that comma? Amy. Not Amys speed, or Amys exhaustion. Just Amy. Cross off any choice that
doesnt begin with Amy. So youre left choosing between (B) and (E). Note that (E) contains no main
verb (and also contains the big suck: being), so the answer must be (B).