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
As others have said, you can use the semicolon instead of a period. “Independent clause” basically means a full sentence that doesn’t need anything else to make sense on its own.
But one thing others haven’t covered is that the semicolon usually implies a connection between the two sentences that a period doesn’t.
So you could write:
“I like dogs. They are my favorite animal.”
“I like dogs; they are my favorite animal.”
In the second case, the semicolon is implying a ‘because’.
You wouldn’t use a semicolon for sentences that aren’t connected in the same causal way.
“My plans for the day are to laze around and watch TV. Maybe I’ll go grocery shopping later. And I should probably call my grandmother.”
There’s no hidden cause/effect relationship there. It’s just a random list.
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