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| ==What's the difference between a semicolon and a comma?==
| | The comma is the most commonly used mark, It has more uses than any other mark of punctuation (Word Book). The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments (Purdue OWL). The word ''semi'' means half. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "comma" comes from the Greek komma, which means "something cut off" or "a short clause" (Wikipedia). |
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| The semicolon is used to seperate major sentence elements of
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| equal grammatical rank (Hacker 250). The word ''semi'' means half.
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| The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments (Purdue OWL). The comma was invented to help readers.
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| Without it, sentence parts can collide into one another unexpectedly, causing misreadings(Hacker 235).
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| ==The Rules==
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| Do not use a semicolon in the following situtations:
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| *between a subordinate clause and the rest of the sentence
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| *between an apposite and the word it refers to
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| *to introduce a list
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| *between independent clauses joined by ''and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet'' (Hacker 253).
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| Do not use a comma in the following situations:
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| *after a coordinating conjunction
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| *after ''such'' as or ''like''
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| *before ''than''
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| *after ''although''
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| *before a parenthesis
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| *to set off an indirect (reported) quotation
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| *with a question mark or an exclamation point (Hacker 249).
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| * between compound elements that are not independent clauses
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| * use a comma to seperate a verb from its subject or object
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| * use a comma before the first or after the last item in a series
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| * use a comma between cumulative adjectives, between an adjective and a noun, or between an adverb and an adjective
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| * use a comma to set off a concluding adverb clause that is essential to the meaning of the sentence (Hacker 246-248).
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| | ==Rules== |
| | The comma was invented to help readers; Without it, sentence parts can collide into one another unexpectedly, causing misreadings(Hacker 235). |
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| | The semicolon is used instead of the comma after items in a series when these items are long or complicated (Word Book). |
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| ==The Usage== | | ==The Usage== |
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