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Snarf Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

A Semi-Colon Query Regarding a Formal Piece

I'm starting to notice things when I read now that I never used to even bat an eye at before, and I just noticed something in this great book that I'm reading—a classic, actually:

"Perhaps the clue to any heroic career is an unbounded capacity for imitation; a single-minded fashioning after a model." - Eric Hoffer, 'The True Believer,' p. 121

Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't that semi-colon (given it is not separating two independent clauses) actually be a comma, colon or em dash, especially since it is within formal writing? Is not that part after the semi-colon a subordinate clause?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Snarf Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't that semi-colon (given it is not separating two independent clauses) actually be a comma, colon or em dash, especially since it is within formal writing? Yes, but a novel is not necessarily formal writing, and punctuation practices change with the publisher and the years. It is not worth worrying over.

— Mister Micawber

  • Snarf Correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't that semi-colon (given it is not separating two independent clauses) actually be a comma, colon or em dash, especially since it is within formal writing?
  • Yes, but a novel is not necessarily formal writing, and punctuation practices change with the publisher and the years.
  • It is not worth worrying over.
  • Snarf Is not that part after the semi-colon a subordinate clause?
  • No, it is just a noun phrase.
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5 Answers
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SnarfCorrect me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't that semi-colon (given it is not separating two independent clauses) actually be a comma, colon or em dash, especially since it is within formal writing?
Yes, but a novel is not necessarily formal writing, and punctuation practices change with the publisher and the years. It is not worth worrying over.
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Mister MicawberYes, but a novel is not necessarily formal writing, and punctuation practices change with the publisher and the years. It is not worth worrying over.
It's not a novel. It's non-fiction and very academic.
Mister MicawberNo, it is just a noun phrase
What's a noun phrase? This is a noun phrase: a single-minde
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SnarfWhat's a noun phrase?
a noun and all its modifiers
Snarf This is a noun phrase: a single-minded fashioning after a model?
Yes.
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And so I understand you correctly, a noun phrase cannot be a dependent/subordinate clause? Is that why the aforesaid one in the example isn't one, even though it is not an independent clause either?
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Snarf, a noun phrase cannot be a dependent/subordinate clause?
A phrase is not a clause, that is all: they are two different beasts. The sentence is a simple sentence (SVCC). The two bracketed noun phrases are in apposition and are complements of the linking verb:

Perhaps the clue to any heroic career is [an unbounded capacity for imitation
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