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Jul 8 2009   2:43PM GMT

Independent clauses and semicolons



Posted by: Ivy Wigmore
business, CIO, comma splices, commas/semicolons, independent clauses, punctuation, Quiz
typing Which is correct?
Sequential logic has _____ combinational logic does not.
a. memory;
b. memory,

Answer: a

Explanation: Because both clauses are independent (they could stand by themselves as complete sentences), use a semicolon here. If you use a comma, that’s an error known as a comma splice.

You join the clauses with a semicolon instead of having two separate sentences to indicate that the clauses are closely related.

Grammar Girl has an entry about semicolons.

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Zoomer2  |   Jul 8, 2009  9:38 PM (GMT)

I seems that “combinational logic does not” is a subordinate clause, not a complete sentence.

Either way passes the Word grammer check.