Five Ways to Fix a Splice or Run-On

In practice

Take "The protection came late the birds had already left." First, add a comma and a coordinating conjunction: "The protection came late, and the birds had already left." Second, use a period to make two sentences. Third, use a semicolon when the ideas are closely related: "The protection came late; the birds had already left." Fourth, use a semicolon with a transitional word: "The protection came late; as a result, the birds had already left." Fifth, turn one clause into a dependent clause: "Because the protection came late, the birds had already left." Each fix is grammatical, but each says something slightly different about how the ideas connect.