Your “prayers not answered” means your “expectations not fulfilled.” The TAO wisdom explains why: your attachments to careers, money, relationships, and success “make” but also “break” you by creating your flawed ego-self that demands your “expectations to be fulfilled.”

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Use of the Semicolon


Punctuation is a device in writing to help your readers understand better what you have expressed in your writing. There are certain punctuation rules you need to follow in order to make your meaning clear.

The Semicolon


The semicolon is used between independent clauses (sentences that are complete and can stand alone) not joined by a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet).

e.g. I was very tied; I did not want to go home.

The sentence would not be correct without the semicolon, which replaces the coordinating conjunction but)

e.g. After hours of walking on the shopping mall I was very tied; but I did not want to go home because I wanted to buy a handbag.

In the above sentence, you may use both the semicolon and the coordinating conjunction, instead of either, because the sentence is a bit long.

e.g. The police knocked at the door; everybody in the room became frightened. (correct)

e.g. The police knocked at the door, everybody in the room became frightened. (incorrect: no conjunction)

e.g. The police knocked at the door, then everybody in the room became frightened. (incorrect: then is not a conjunction)

e.g. The police knocked at the door, and then everybody in the room became frightened. (correct)

A semicolon or a coordinating conjunction is required to join two independent clauses or sentences; then is not a coordinating conjunction.

Modifiers, such as in fact, on the other hand, for example, in the first place, still require a semicolon between independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.

e.g. That was the best book he had ever written; in fact, it won him a book award.

e.g. That was the best book he had ever written, in fact, it won him a book award. (incorrect)

Remember this: the semicolon is a stronger break in a sentence than that of a comma, but weaker than that of a period.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau

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