Punctuation powerless - Punctuation problems

Booher's Rules of Business Grammar - Dianna Booher 2009

Punctuation powerless
Punctuation problems

RUN-ONS—SEMICOLONS SLIP-SLIDING AWAY

The antithesis of comma hiccups (tossing in commas for no good reason) is omitting necessary punctuation. The big punctuation pitfall in this category that renders a sentence powerless is the run-on. It’s as noticeable as a train wreck.

Here are examples of sentence collisions:

Incorrect:

She loves her job however she’s going to resign.

Ebeneezer outlined his goals for the new year, they seem very realistic and doable for the time frame.

Ziggy has asked for a reduced work schedule she wants to work no more than 30 hours a week.

Pongo has exceeded his budget, therefore, the remainder of his plans will need to be put on hold until next year.

Each of these sentences has two separate thoughts that can stand alone. Both “halves” of each sentence have a subject and a verb and can exist as a separate sentence. They have to be either written as two separate sentences or separated within the sentence by a semicolon. (When two separate thoughts are joined by connective adverbs like however, therefore, thus, hence, moreover, consequently, and subsequently, a comma doesn’t have the strength to hold them apart.)

Correct:

She loves her job; however, she’s going to resign. (Or: She loves her job. However, she’s going to resign.)

Ebeneezer outlined his goals for the new year; they seem very realistic and doable for the time frame. (Or: Ebeneezer outlined his goals for the new year. They seem very realistic and doable for the time frame.)

Ziggy has asked for a reduced work schedule; she wants to work no more than 30 hours a week. (Or: Ziggy has asked for a reduced work schedule. She wants to work no more than 30 hours a week.)

Pongo has exceeded his budget; therefore, the remainder of his plans will need to be put on hold until next year. (Or: Pongo has exceeded his budget. The remainder of his plans will need to be put on hold until next year.)

Consider word flow in a document much like the traffic flow in our transportation system. A period means stop. A semicolon tells the reader to stop but to keep idling because there’s another very closely related idea to follow. When writers fail to put punctuation signals in place appropriately, ideas crash in the reader’s mind.

Memory tip

Visualize this error as a train wreck. Two separate trains of thought crash into each other.