GMAT Tuesday: How to Use a Semicolon

Question

Although not explicitly tested on the GMAT, it’s good to know how these are supposed to used. It’s easy to be thrown off if you come across these and aren’t sure what they mean. A student asked about them, so I want to clear the air and make clear what they mean.

https://magoosh.com/gmat/2016/gmat-tuesd ... emicolons/

mvictor · Answer

thanks. about the second use - I always thought that such was incorrect, as I thought that the second clause is a dependent clause.

KevinRocci · Answer

Howdy! :D

You are correct that it would be incorrect to link an independent clause and a dependent clause with a semicolon. You would want to use a comma or an em-dash in these situations. But you can use the semicolon to link two independent clauses. :D In the example I gave, there are two independent clauses:

Subject + Verb; Subject + Verb -->  Fog  +  covers ;  flights  +  have been grounded .

It might seem like a dependent clause because of the use of "consequently" but that word won't make an independent clause into a dependent clause. It's still independent. :D

I hope that helps! :D

Cheers,

Kevin

mvictor · Answer

I encountered a similar example but with "however". Because I did not see this video before, I mentioned the correct answer as incorrect

I will never forget from now on this usage

)

GMAT Tuesday: How to Use a Semicolon

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