a comma incorrectly used to connect ("splice" together) two complete thoughts. Ex.: I go to school, my brother stays home.
fused sentence
a run-on with no punctuation to mark the break between thoughts. Ex.: I go to school my brother stays home.
run-on
two complete thoughts that run together with no adequate sign given to mark the break between them. In this text, the term "run-on" denotes both comma splices and fused sentences; some instructors prefer to use "run-on" as a synonym of fused sentence alone.
