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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
Why is there a semicolon instead of a comma?
Henry James, from "The Turn of the Screw":
"But it was a comfort that there could be no uneasiness in a connexion with anything so beatific as the radiant image of my little girl, the vision of whose angelic beauty had probably more than anything else to do with the restlessness that, before morning, made me several times rise and wander about my room to take in the whole picture and prospect; to watch from my open window the faint summer dawn, to look at such stretches of the rest of the house as I could catch, and to listen, while in the fading dusk the first birds began to twitter, for the possible recurrence of a sound or two, less natural and not without but within, that I had fancied I heard."
"But it was a comfort that there could be no uneasiness in a connexion with anything so beatific as the radiant image of my little girl, the vision of whose angelic beauty had probably more than anything else to do with the restlessness that, before morning, made me several times rise and wander about my room to take in the whole picture and prospect; to watch from my open window the faint summer dawn, to look at such stretches of the rest of the house as I could catch, and to listen, while in the fading dusk the first birds began to twitter, for the possible recurrence of a sound or two, less natural and not without but within, that I had fancied I heard."
Top answer
A "strong comma" in the midst of a bunch of commas. Following the semi is a list of actions separated by commas. Prior to the semi is the action which leads to the chain of subsequent actions.
- A "strong comma" in the midst of a bunch of commas.
- Following the semi is a list of actions separated by commas.
- Prior to the semi is the action which leads to the chain of subsequent actions.
- That action is of a different category.
- If the only thing to follow were "to watch from my open window the faint summer dawn," there'd be no need for the semi.
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2 Answers
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A "strong comma" in the midst of a bunch of commas.
Following the semi is a list of actions separated by commas. Prior to the semi is the action which leads to the chain of subsequent actions. That action is of a different category.
If the only thing to follow were "to watch from my open window the faint summer dawn," there'd be no need for the semi. He allows the
Following the semi is a list of actions separated by commas. Prior to the semi is the action which leads to the chain of subsequent actions. That action is of a different category.
If the only thing to follow were "to watch from my open window the faint summer dawn," there'd be no need for the semi. He allows the
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