College Composition / Unit 8 CMP 0176 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Semicolons Between Clauses
Captions available
The idea
A semicolon joins two independent clauses that are closely related in meaning and are not joined by a coordinating conjunction.
In practice
"The school was remodeled many times; the result was a patchwork." There must be a complete sentence on each side.
Where people slip
A semicolon before a dependent clause or a phrase is an error; if one side cannot stand alone, use a comma.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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