Friday, September 13, 2013

Semicolons, conjunctive adverbs, and run-ons

Place semicolons in the correct places (thereby correcting run-ons as needed). Underline the conjunctive adverbs (what I often call transitional words). Be ye careful with transitional words, for they are not conjunctions. They make your ear hear a "transitional flow" and therefore can trick you into thinking that your clauses are "joined," when in fact they are not - thereby creating a run-on situation. Semicolons are solutions to such situations.

Another solution is just to separate the two clauses. Or, you may use a comma and a coordinating conjunction instead of a semicolon. Both choices do the same job of joining two clauses to form a compound. A coordinating conjunction is a "joiner" by nature, but we still want to hear a pause, so we add the comma. I like to think of a "comma and a conjunction" being the equivalent to "a comma and a dot" -- a semicolon. Cool.

1) I got to school at 6:15, which was too early, furthermore, I didn't leave until 7:15 at night.

2) Scheherezade told the sultan many fascinating stories, consequently he didn't murder her.

3) There is a moose on my wall, henceforth he shall be called Boris.

4) I am really, really tired of doing schoolwork, however, I am not finished making these darn semicolon sentences.

5) It is Friday, and tomorrow is Saturday, and the next day is Sunday, praise the Lord.

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