wali786 wrote:
Can somebody explain how is E a run- on sentence?
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Ritesh92gmat wrote:
Hi all,Thanks to all for your discussion. It really helps us in our learnings.
I have just doubt regarding option E. How is this option run-on sentence?
Thanks in advance.
Posted from my mobile device
Hello,
wali786 and
Ritesh92gmat. A run-on sentence occurs most commonly when an independent clause follows a conjunction, but there is no comma before the conjunction. However, the run-on in (E) is of a different nature:
Quote:
The planet, a newborn planet still forming around its star and one whose formation has been imaged, supports what astronomers have long believed that such bodies are born of the disks of gas and dust that coalesce.
The
that clause is incorrectly embedded within the
what clause instead of defining that
what. To be clear, you can say,
What astronomers have long believed is that..., but you cannot say,
What astronomers have long believed that... Likewise, you could say,
Astronomers have long believed that..., without the nominative
what clause. Since the
what clause in (E), right through the word
believed, acts as a direct object, we need for that object to resolve before we start describing it in a
namely way, the role that either a colon or an em dash can play in such a sentence. Without that crucial pause, the sentence becomes a run-on. Compare:
1) The
what clause as a subject—
What I said that he should tell the truth. (Missing verb.)
2) The
what clause as an object—
His version is different from what I said that he should tell the truth. (Missing pause.)
To refer back to
what I said, I am using another clause, only one that begins with a
that, and I need to make it clear that that second clause is defining or describing the first.
I hope that helps. This is a tricky question, one that has given me more grief than just about any other (if you look back through the history).
- Andrew