whenever i search it up its like “erhm actuchually??! you are supposed to use a semicolon between closely related independent clauses which are not joined by a coordinating conjunction!!🤓☝”
EXCUSE ME? I ONLY KNOW LIKE 5 WORDS IN THAT SENTENCE
In: Other
An independent clause is a piece of a sentence that can function as a complete sentence on its own. Notably, it should have both a subject (noun/pronoun) and a verb. If you have two independent clauses that are related, you can combine them with a comma, followed by a coordinating conjunction, which is a word like “and”, “or”, or “but”. However, instead of doing that, you could also choose to use a semicolon in place of it.
Bob went to the grocery store. Jane went to the pharmacy. – Two independent clauses as complete sentences.
Bob went to the store, and Jane went to the pharmacy. – Two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.
Bob went to the store; Jane went to the pharmacy. – Two independent clauses joined by a semicolon.
It’s never strictly necessary to use a semicolon, but it’s a tool in the writer’s toolbox that provides an alternate way to break up the flow of a compound sentence.
Latest Answers