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Wowenglish Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Semi-colon
I would like to know why ";" is used in the next sentence.
A Wolf caught sight of a Goat browsing above him on the scanty herbage
that grew on the top of a steep rock; and being unable to get at her,
tried to induce her to come lower down.
A Wolf caught sight of a Goat browsing above him on the scanty herbage
that grew on the top of a steep rock; and being unable to get at her,
tried to induce her to come lower down.
Top answer
that grew on the top of a steep rock, and, being unable to get at her, tried to induce her to come lower down. Did you notice how the semi-colon gave you time to stop and breathe, instead of rushing on to the end of the sentence?
- that grew on the top of a steep rock, and, being unable to get at her, tried to induce her to come lower down.
- Did you notice how the semi-colon gave you time to stop and breathe, instead of rushing on to the end of the sentence?
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2 Answers
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In my humble opinion, the author may have decided to use a semi-colon (known as a "super comma") because all commas would have been messy and ugly: ...that grew on the top of a steep rock, and, being unable to get at her, tried to induce her to come lower down. Did you notice how the semi-colon gave you time to stop and breathe, instead of rushing on to the end of the sentence?
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Hi,
I would like to know why ";" is used in the next sentence. Because the writer wants to show that there is a close connection of meaning between the two parts.
A Wolf caught sight of a Goat browsing above him on the scanty herbage
that grew on the top of a steep rock; and being unable to get at her,
tried to induce her to come lower down.
However, he has not
I would like to know why ";" is used in the next sentence. Because the writer wants to show that there is a close connection of meaning between the two parts.
A Wolf caught sight of a Goat browsing above him on the scanty herbage
that grew on the top of a steep rock; and being unable to get at her,
tried to induce her to come lower down.
However, he has not
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