Grammar ClassworkSemicolon Usage
Review page 618 in your Write Source textbook for all of the rules, notes, and examples.
Rule 1: Use a semicolon to connect 2 independent clauses.
Example:Humpback whales are the slowest moving of all whales; they are also the most playful.
Rule 2: Use a semicolon before a conjunctive adverb when it joins 2 independent clauses. (Note: Add a comma after the conjunctive adverb.)
Example:Humpback whales are very social whales; therefore, they take time to play.
Other conjunctive adverbs:
howeverfurthermoremoreover nevertheless
meanwhileinsteadbesidesstill
subsequentlyalsofinallyhence
consequentlyindeedlikewiseotherwise
Rule 3:Use a semicolon to separate items in a series of 3 or more if the items already contain commas.
Example: Dances can tell a story, set a mood, or express emotions; offer fun, relaxation, and companionship; or assist in the treatment of physical and emotional ailments.
Practice:
1.Humpback whales migrate every year they spend the summers in cool northern waters.
2.These whales can’t small, taste, or see well however they have excellent hearing.
3.The calves drink up to two gallons of milk per feeding they may feed 48 times per day.
4.At this rate they gain up to 200 pounds a day moreover they grow nearly a foot a week.
5.Humpback whales are disappearing at an alarming rate their population has dwindled from 102,000 to 8,700.
6.Humpbacks lift their bodies almost completely out of the water this is called “breaching.”
7.Humpbacks also point their heads down toward the ocean’s floor and make sounds this is called “singing.”
8.No one knows why whales sing perhaps it is one of the ways they communicate.
9.Many whale species “sing” still the best singers are the humpbacks.
10.Humpbacks are called “floaters” they float when they die.
More practice:
1.Dance is one way of celebrating music it’s natural to want to move to rhythm and sounds.
2.Dances can tell a story, set a mood, or express emotions offer fun, relaxation, and companionshipor assist in the treatment of physical and emotional ailments.
3.Many consider Isadora Duncan the first lady of modern dance many see her as a true pioneer.
4.Modern dance can imitate the wild, often chaotic-looking movements of nature therefore this kind of dance often uses tumbling, rolling, and other acrobatics.
5.Dance is a part of many peoples’ traditions some Native American tribes perform traditional dances to bring good weather.
6.Some birds use dance as a mating ritual some people use dance as a “dating ritual.”
7.Dancing is an ancient art many prehistoric paintings and sculptures have shown us that people danced 20,000 years ago.
8.Ballet had its beginnings in Italy however it was King Louis XIV of France who made ballet a formal art.