English Grammar Demystified - A Self Teaching Guide

CHAPTER 8 Punctuation Builds Sentences^185

Why did the original sentence require a semicolon? Recall that when two indepen-
dent clauses are joined by a longer, transitional word, called a conjunctive adverb,
you use a semicolon before the conjunction and a comma after it.

Road building in the West was dangerous; consequently, when construction

began in the nineteenth century, many construction workers died in climbing

accidents.

Find the two independent clauses.

1. Road building in the West was dangerous


2. consequently, many construction workers died in climbing accidents

Find the dependent clause.

when construction began in the nineteenth century

Written Practice 8-7

Clarify each of the following sentences by inserting punctuation where needed.

1. Ani who plays the piano rarely listens to any other kind of music however
   Mal plays no instrument and listens to all kinds of music.


2. We knew the prize was hidden in the house somewhere nevertheless even
   with that knowledge we couldn’t fi nd it.


3. Jake and Leela never told us they were not coming so even though we had
   planned so carefully we had much too much food.


4. Halloween never ceases to amaze me for although it appears year after year
   both children and their parents exhibit unrelenting enthusiasm.


5. By the time he was fourteen he had begun a professional career from the
   Atlantic City Boardwalk to touring in vaudeville he rose by force of his
   extraordinary ability to star billing as W.C. Fields Tramp Juggler.


6. While Stephen Douglas maintained a popular sovereignty stance, Lincoln
   stated that the United States could not survive as half-slave and half-free
   states consequently the Lincoln–Douglas debates drew the attention of the
   entire nation.