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Mikeb Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
I'm struggling with semicolons
What's the best way to understand semicolons and how they are used. For example:
"Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil."
Why wouldn't a comma go after the word processor.
"Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil."
Why wouldn't a comma go after the word processor.
Top answer
Hello, MikeB, and welcome to English Forums. The two parts of youru sentence can each be their own sentence. The are each indepdent clauses.
- Hello, MikeB, and welcome to English Forums.
- The two parts of youru sentence can each be their own sentence.
- The are each indepdent clauses.
- You cannot grammatically link two indepdendent clauses with only a comma.
- " You can just a conjuctions (but, and) to keep them equal.
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9 Answers
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Hello, MikeB, and welcome to English Forums.
The two parts of youru sentence can each be their own sentence. The are each indepdent clauses. You cannot grammatically link two indepdendent clauses with only a comma. If you do that, you have a "comma splice." You can just a conjuctions (but, and) to keep them equal. You can use a period. But if you want them to be one sentence, then you mus
The two parts of youru sentence can each be their own sentence. The are each indepdent clauses. You cannot grammatically link two indepdendent clauses with only a comma. If you do that, you have a "comma splice." You can just a conjuctions (but, and) to keep them equal. You can use a period. But if you want them to be one sentence, then you mus
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"Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil."
Why wouldn't a comma go after the word "processor"? Because you cannot separate two independent clauses with a comma. Such a mistake is called a comma splice. If the two clauses are closely related, you can separate the
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mikebWhat's the best way to understand semicolons and how they are used. For example:"Some people write with a word processor; others write with a pen or pencil."Why wouldn't a comma go after the word processor.Try to take notice of the semicolon usage when reading; that's one of the best ways to master the usage of this punctuation mark.
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"Others write with a pen or pencil"
Are you sure this is an independent clause?!?!?
Are you sure this is an independent clause?!?!?
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You have received almost identical responses from experienced users. Do you really think we're all wrong?
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mikeb"Others write with a pen or pencil" Are you sure this is an independent clause?!?!?It appears that everyone is quite sure of this. Yes. (Except you.
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I'm a terrible writer and got a long way to go; I'm just trying to make sure I get it. Just doesn't seem like "Others write with a pen or pencil" is a sentence that can stand on its own. I guess that's ok for independent clauses. The word "Other" throws me off.
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mikebThe word "Others" throws me off.That's understandable, because the meaning of 'others' depends on what came before. "Other what?" you want to ask.
But that's not the point when thinking in terms of "independent clauses". It doesn't matter if the clause relates back to something in a previous clause; it can s
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