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Raen Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Replacement: a period or a semicolon?
I hadn't understood what a run-on sentence was until I recieved my first graded paper. So not surprisingly, I was marked for that at several places. I've checked out on the internet for the correct punctuation and machanics for that, and it's simple (see I put "and" here to connect the 2 independent clauses. Somthing I wouldn't have done before): use a "period" or a "semicolon" in place of a comma. So my question is: When do I use one and not the other? Any rule of thumb here? Here's a sentence:
"Ah, how food has such magical power, needless to be sumoned, to navigate through the dormant and quiet sea of your mind, and stir up memories so old and minute, it is astounding."
When is it required to use a semicolon? I would really appreciate someone's help here. Thanks in advance.
Raen
"Ah, how food has such magical power, needless to be sumoned, to navigate through the dormant and quiet sea of your mind, and stir up memories so old and minute, it is astounding."
When is it required to use a semicolon? I would really appreciate someone's help here. Thanks in advance.
Raen
Top answer
Raen, I'm going to answer quickly before Clive does. You never NEED to use a semicolon. You can ALWAYS use a period and start the new sentence with a capital letter instead of joining them with a semi-colon.
- Raen, I'm going to answer quickly before Clive does.
- You never NEED to use a semicolon.
- You can ALWAYS use a period and start the new sentence with a capital letter instead of joining them with a semi-colon.
- The semi-colon joins two otherwise independent clauses (sentences) that are very closely linked in meaning or that otherwise have a very strong association.
- In your example, the part "it is astouding" is a complete sentence and it is spliced on to the prior portion with a comma.
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2 Answers
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Raen, I'm going to answer quickly before Clive does. 
You never NEED to use a semicolon. You can ALWAYS use a period and sta
You never NEED to use a semicolon. You can ALWAYS use a period and sta
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Grammar GeekRaen, I'm going to answer quickly before Clive doesSo Clive is a anti-semicolonist. I did not know that. Now I know what to do to just to see how angry he can get.
Grammar Geek
Personally, the prior sentence is so long, I would not use the semicolon there, even though I do use them more often than the two or three times
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