Question

read this sentence. sometimes people say silly things they do not intend to be mean. identify the choice that corrects this run - on sentence. sometimes people say silly things, they do not intend to be mean. sometimes people say silly things they do not intend to be mean! sometimes people say silly things; they do not intend to be mean. sometimes, people say silly things they do not intend to be mean.

Explanation:

A run - on sentence occurs when two independent clauses are improperly joined.

• Option A: Using a comma alone (comma - splice) to join two independent clauses ("Sometimes people say silly things" and "they do not intend to be mean") is incorrect.
• Option B: Changing the period to an exclamation mark does not fix the run - on issue. The two independent clauses are still not properly joined.
• Option C: Using a semicolon to join two independent clauses ("Sometimes people say silly things" and "they do not intend to be mean") is a correct way to fix a run - on sentence.
• Option D: Adding a comma after "Sometimes" does not address the run - on problem. The two independent clauses are still not properly connected.

Answer:

C. Sometimes people say silly things; they do not intend to be mean.