Question

which of the following is a run-on sentence?

in 1783, the us congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, the us and britain signed the treaty of paris, british troops left new york city, and george washington resigned as commander.
on april 19, 1783, the us congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, and the treaty of paris followed about five months later.
on september 3, 1783, the us and britain signed the treaty of paris, and two months later, british troops left new york city.
on april 19, 1783, the us congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty and five months later, the us and britain signed the treaty of paris and british troops left new york city in november.

Explanation:

Define a run-on sentence and comma splice

A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunctions. A comma splice is a specific type of run-on sentence where two independent clauses are joined with only a comma.

Analyze the first option

"In 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, British troops left New York City, and George Washington resigned as commander."

• Clause 1: "In 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty" (Independent)
• Clause 2: "the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris" (Independent)
• These two independent clauses are joined only by a comma, creating a comma splice (a type of run-on sentence).

Analyze the remaining options

• Option 2: "On April 19, 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, and the Treaty of Paris followed about five months later." (Correctly joined by a comma and the coordinating conjunction "and").
• Option 3: "On September 3, 1783, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, and two months later, British troops left New York City." (Correctly joined by a comma and the coordinating conjunction "and").
• Option 4: "On April 19, 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty and five months later, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris and British troops left New York City in November." (Grammatically correct compound construction using coordinating conjunctions).

Answer:

• (A) In 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, British troops left New York City, and George Washington resigned as commander. (Correct answer)
• (B) On April 19, 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty, and the Treaty of Paris followed about five months later.
• (C) On September 3, 1783, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris, and two months later, British troops left New York City.
• (D) On April 19, 1783, the US Congress ratified a preliminary peace treaty and five months later, the US and Britain signed the Treaty of Paris and British troops left New York City in November.