which sentence requires semicolons instead of commas?
Why did the scarecrow win an award, because he was outstanding in his field; or why don't skeletons fight each other, because they don't have the guts.
There are several situations where semicolons should be used instead of commas in a sentence. Here is an example:
"I have to finish my homework, which is due tomorrow, and then prepare for the presentation."
In this sentence, semicolons should be used instead of commas because there are multiple items in the list that are separated by commas. It would be correct to write:
"I have to finish my homework; which is due tomorrow; and then prepare for the presentation."
By using semicolons instead of commas, it helps to clearly separate each item in the list.
To determine which sentence requires semicolons instead of commas, you will need to identify sentences where there are two or more complete thoughts that are closely related. Semicolons are used to connect these independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
Here's an example:
1. "I went to the store, and I bought some groceries."
In this sentence, a coordinating conjunction "and" is already used to connect the two independent clauses. Therefore, commas are appropriate here.
Now, let's look at a sentence where semicolons are needed:
2. "I went to the store; I bought some groceries."
In this sentence, semicolons are used to separate the two independent clauses "I went to the store" and "I bought some groceries." Since there is no coordinating conjunction, semicolons provide the appropriate punctuation.
So, in this case, sentence 2 requires semicolons instead of commas.