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Question

Difficulty: EasySemicolons

Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles south every autumn; they spend the winter in the forests of central Mexico.

Which of the following choices best punctuates the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. autumn; theyAnswer
  2. B
    autumn, they
  3. C
    autumn; where they
  4. D
    autumn; because they

Answer

The correct answer is the option that reads 'autumn; they'.
The correct option is the one that leaves the sentence unchanged. The sentence is composed of two independent clauses: 'Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles south every autumn' and 'they spend the winter in the forests of central Mexico.' Because both clauses are complete thoughts that could stand alone as sentences, a semicolon is the grammatically correct way to join them without a coordinating conjunction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the two clauses being joined in the sentence.
The first clause is 'Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles south every autumn,' and the second clause is 'they spend the winter in the forests of central Mexico.'
We must determine whether the clauses are independent or dependent to apply the correct punctuation rule.
2
Analyze the grammatical structure of both clauses.
Both clauses contain a subject and a verb, express a complete thought, and can stand alone as separate sentences, meaning they are both independent clauses.
Knowing that both clauses are independent helps narrow down the acceptable ways to connect them.
3
Determine the appropriate punctuation to connect the two independent clauses.
Since there is no coordinating conjunction (like 'and' or 'but') to link them, a semicolon is the correct punctuation mark to connect the two independent clauses.
This correctly resolves the transition without introducing comma splices or fragment errors.

Key Concept

Using a semicolon to link two closely related independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
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Topics

Semicolons

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