What's the difference between a semicolon and a comma?: Difference between revisions

What's the difference between a semicolon and a comma? (view source)

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Lwilliams

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 equal grammatical rank (Hacker 250). The word ''semi'' means half.
-The comma is a valuable, useful punctuation device because it separates the structural elements of sentences into manageable segments (OWL at Purdue University). The comma was invented to help readers.
+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.
 Without it, sentence parts can collide into one another unexpectedly, causing misreadings(Hacker 235).
 ==The Rules==
-===To avoid common misuses of the semicolon===
 Do not use a semicolon in the following situtations:
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 *between independent clauses joined by ''and, but, or, nor, for, so, or yet''  (Hacker 253).
-===To avoid common misuses of the comma===
 Do not use a comma in the following situations:
-*after a coodinating conjunction
+*after a coordinating conjunction
 *after ''such'' as or ''like''
 *before ''than''
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 *before a parenthesis
 *to set off an indirect (reported) quotation
-*with a question maek or an exclamation point (Hacker 249).
+*with a question mark or an exclamation point (Hacker 249).
+* between compound elements that are not independent clauses
-===To aviod unnecessary commas===
-Do not use a comma in the following situations:
-* a comma between compound elements that are not independent clauses
 * use a comma to seperate a verb from its subject or object
 * use a comma before the first or after the last item in a series