Question

Look for and fix run-on sentence error!!!! In this sentence: Rain fell on the parched ground, finally, there had been four months of drought.

Answer 1

"Rain fell on the parched ground" is an independent clause, and so is "there had been four months of drought." Independent clauses must be separated by either a period, a semicolon, or a comma + coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, for, yet, or).

In this case, I would put a semicolon after 'ground' because semicolons usually go before conjunctive adverbs (e.g. 'finally').

Answer 2

It wouldn't make sense to put the semicolon after "ground." The writer is not trying to say, "Finally, there had been four months of drought." This sounds like the drought is a good thing. I would word it, "Finally, rain fell on the parched ground; there had been four months of drought."

Answer 3

Good catch.