# Run-on sentence? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 5, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845 "2012-03-05T19:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bpelta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Bpelta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bpelta)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/1 "2012-03-05T19:09:12Z")
Is this considered a run-on sentence?: “Though I later left Orthodoxy, I, like many people, tend to take different lessons from all sorts of experiences, and my journey though the frum world was no exception.” ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/2 "2012-03-05T19:14:15Z")
I’m no grammar professor, but I would say no. It is a tad on the long side, but it doesn’t run on. I find the two commas surrounding “I” to be awkward though. I would omit the initial comma. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/3 "2012-03-05T19:49:36Z")
You could make “and my journey though the frum world was no exception” a second sentence. But you don’t have to. It’s narration, so there’s nothing wrong with the structure as long it represents how you speak. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/4 "2012-03-05T21:09:04Z")
That sentence has problems, but being a run-on isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/5 "2012-03-06T04:39:17Z")
I don’t mind the two commas around “I”, and don’t think it’s a run-on sentence. I do think it’s a bit unwieldy, though, so I would split “and my journey though the frum world was no exception” into a new sentence. As **TriPolar** notes, though, the need to split really depends on the style being sought. If this is a narrative, go ahead and leave it. If you’re speaking to a group of second-graders, consider splitting the whole thing into three or four sentences. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/6 "2012-03-06T04:54:10Z")
The profusion of commas lends a certain Artscrollian tint to the sentence, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/run-on-sentence/614845/7 "2012-03-06T05:07:41Z")
The commas around “I” are very necessary. You have a subordinate clause beginning the sentence, which requires a comma to separate it from the main clause, and you have a parenthetical clause afterwards. The only other ways that portion of the sentence could be written would be using parentheses or dashes, and both of those interrupt the flow too much, in my opinion. Though, of the two, parentheses would be better.