GCSE English

Semicolon Replacement

ab: pencil

You may have noticed that we can happily replace semicolons by a full stop, or vice versa, and it still makes sense. The meaning does change, however!

Let's try using a comma instead of the semicolon in the previous example:

Gareth slept soundly. Isobel was crying, this was quite rare.
Gareth slept soundly, Isobel was crying. This was quite rare.

There is nothing technically wrong with either statement. Now try full stops:

Gareth slept soundly. Isobel was crying. This was quite rare.

Again, technically the statement is correct, although what is rare is now ambiguous.


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