Writing for Business - A Whatis.com Blog » commas/semicolons http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business Is your grammar as good as your code? Thu, 13 Jun 2013 17:09:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Independent clauses and semicolons http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/independent-clauses-and-semicolons/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/independent-clauses-and-semicolons/#comments Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:43:09 +0000 Ivy Wigmore http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/independent-clauses-and-semicolons/ 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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]]> http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/independent-clauses-and-semicolons/feed/ 1 Quiz: Writing for business — commas and semicolons http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/quiz-writing-for-business-commas-and-semicolons/ http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/quiz-writing-for-business-commas-and-semicolons/#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:26:29 +0000 Ivy Wigmore http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/quiz-writing-for-business-commas-and-semicolons/ Which is correct?
The office was reduced to a ________ employees worked a lot of very long shifts.
a. skeleton crew,
b. skeleton crew;

Answer: b

Explanation:
If the punctuation is joining two independent clauses (which are, essentially, complete sentences in themselves), use a semicolon rather than a comma. The reason to use a semicolon here rather than making it two separate sentences is to indicate that the separate clauses are closely connected. In this case, the employees were working long shifts because the number of employees had been reduced.

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