In the
weekly feature of November 29, 2003, we studied
subordination. This week, let’s talk about semicolons. We can
join two independent clauses by placing a semicolon between
them. The semicolon takes the place of a conjunction:
• Fred hopes to buy a new car in June; he
has been saving for two years.
• Barb loves the outdoors; she often goes
hiking and cycling.
Notice each of the sentences above could
also be made into two separate sentences by replacing the
semicolon with a period. Also notice that the first word after
the semicolon is not capitalized.
Now it’s time for you to try two quizzes to
practice what you have learned:
Scrambled Sentence Quiz on Semicolons 1
Scrambled Sentence Quiz on Semicolons 2
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