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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
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"The dog managed to catch the frisbee, which no dog had done before" is betterer still...
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Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:25 pm |
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Electric_Wizard
Occasionally has a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:05 pm Posts: 277 Location: In the studio
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Yeah, not bad. Not bad.
I'd still like to see the character of "the dog" developed a little further though...
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Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:27 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
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Like so many times before and feeling a bead of sweat form on his sun-beaten brow, the dog launched himself upwards, jaws open, full of expectation edged with uncertainty, to retrieve the flying disc from it's azimuth; no dog had done this before.
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Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:35 pm |
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JJW009
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:58 pm Posts: 8767 Location: behind the sofa
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I'd have written "... ;as no dog had done before" In that example the semicolon separates the guts from the [LIFTED]. To my mind, Your wording requires a full stop. That's basically what I was taught. To answer the OP; I do use the semicolon, but often I'm unsure. "To answer the OP" was the [LIFTED]. The remainder was the guts.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 12:38 am |
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Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm Posts: 6580 Location: Getting there
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I was always taught that semicolons require full sentences. "as no dog had done before" doesn't work on it's own as a sentence. ou can also used semicolons to separate a list that contains items with punctation in. i.e. I can see three people; Dave, a comedian; Chris, a DJ and Rachel, a producer.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 6:58 am |
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John_Vella
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:55 am Posts: 7935 Location: Manchester.
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So Cynical for one so young...
_________________John Vella BSc (Hons), PGCE - Still the official forum prankster and crude remarker Sorry I'll behave now. Promise
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:29 am |
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okenobi
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:59 pm Posts: 4932 Location: Sestriere, Piemonte, Italia
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Yoof John, innit?! Unlike the yoof, I try not to rely on Microsoft for my SPAG. I was, however, educated prior to 1999. I therefore, may have received one of some vague use. Obviously not as much use as some of you though, or I would know the correct use of the semicolon and I do not. As for it dying out; I think you'll find that it's been dying for far longer than the apostrophe. The apostrophe is still around for most of us. It's just been misunderstood by the latest generation IMO. The "commas either side of things" phenomenon which some of you have discussed was also taught to me as "parentheses". Similar in use to brackets or indeed "", I concur with the consensus on their use. I've never really been happy without a comma in front of an "and" though tbh. If someone *ahem* "older" who was actually educated before the system went soft could explain the semicolon, I'd be delighted to listen.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:19 am |
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tombolt
Spends far too much time on here
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:38 am Posts: 2967 Location: Dorchester, Dorset
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Other than separating items in a list. this is precisely where you would use a semi colon.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 8:36 am |
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jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
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It occurs to me you can make the use of single commas consistent with the 'commas used to add extra detail in a sentence' rule by applying one simple subrule; if you have a comma directly next to a full stop you should drop the comma.
In the end the choices are largely about how you want the sentence to be paced and what emotional feel you want to give it. There are also a lot of inconsistencies between written English and spoken English which can be quite irritating.
Jon
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:37 am |
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bish
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:45 am Posts: 732 Location: 'sup mah science bitchezz!?
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Semicolons are pretty much used, when you want to end a sentace, but need to as more detail.
For instance. I went to the park for a walk; in the dark.
_________________ I make full use of this action, while at x404.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:38 am |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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You see, I’d write this as either: I went for a walk - in the dark. Or, for a bit more impact (and to break the expected rhythm): I went for a walk. In the dark. My mum has a semi colon; part of it was removed surgically. No, really. It was.
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Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:08 pm |
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SAughton
Dennis Magazines
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:33 am Posts: 125 Location: Ober-Ohringen, Switzerland
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Wikipedia is pretty good on punctuation, describing the semi-colon thus. I find it particularly useful, as Wikipedia puts it, “Between items in a series or listing containing internal punctuation…”. This is often the case when I have to list computer or software specs or new features, bug fixes etc. And as tool for linking closely related sentences it’s invaluable; it changes the sense of what you are writing.
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Last edited by SAughton on Mon May 04, 2009 7:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mon May 04, 2009 7:15 am |
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SAughton
Dennis Magazines
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:33 am Posts: 125 Location: Ober-Ohringen, Switzerland
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Sorry, “in the dark” is not an independent clause so that should be a comma or a dash, but… …not a hyphen: “I went for a walk—in the dark”. Except that “In the dark” is not a sentence.
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Mon May 04, 2009 7:21 am |
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paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
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I know. I do that kind of thing deliberately.
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Mon May 04, 2009 1:18 pm |
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