Run-On Sentences for Grownups: Misusing “However”

by Ken Bresler
The Vocabula Review, December 2014

Remember run-on sentences from when we first learned to write? We took what should have been two or three sentences, stuck “and” between them, and constructed chains of words and thoughts.

Adults construct run-on sentences by misusing “however.”

Here’s an example of the proper use of “however”: “The new regulations allowed it to raise interest rates. However, the bank declined to do so.”

Another proper use of “however”: “The new regulations allowed it to raise interest rates. The bank, however, declined to do so.”

Yet another proper use of “however”: “The new regulations allowed it to raise interest rates; however, the bank declined to do so.”

Misuse of “however”: “The new regulations allowed it to raise interest rates, however, the bank declined to do so.”

I see this misuse regularly. As a practicing lawyer, I see experienced lawyers gluing two sentences together with “however.” As an instructor of advanced legal writing, I see competent law students do it too.

Here’s a rule from an employee handbook by a Massachusetts state agency: “Supervising employees should not suppress you from writing a disciplinary report, however, it is generally acknowledged that the employee who succeeds in maintaining good discipline with a minimum number for formal reports deserves the highest commendation.” In addition to misusing “however,” that construction abuses the English language.

But it’s not only grammatically oblivious people who misuse “however.” A 2011 book on style and grammar conjoined two sentences with “however.” The topic was not the proper use of “however,” but, rather, the proper use of commas. The authors inserted between two sentences a comma, then “however,” and another comma to illustrate the supposed proper use of commas.

I don’t want to get into a public battle with other writing advisers. I spotted that error on page 4 and returned the book.