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Question

Difficulty: EasyCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

The chef spent hours preparing the signature soup, he added a secret blend of herbs right before serving.

Which choice is the best version of the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. soup; he addedAnswer
  3. C
    soup; adding
  4. D
    soup. Although he added

Answer

The option using a semicolon to separate the two independent clauses is the correct choice.
The correct option correctly uses a semicolon to link two independent clauses: 'The chef spent hours preparing the signature soup' and 'he added a secret blend of herbs right before serving.' A semicolon is an appropriate punctuation mark to join related independent clauses.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the relationship between the clauses separated by the underlined portion.
The clause before the punctuation ('The chef spent hours preparing the signature soup') and the clause after the punctuation ('he added a secret blend of herbs right before serving') are both independent clauses.
Determining whether the clauses are independent or dependent dictates the correct punctuation rule.
2
Evaluate the original punctuation to check for errors.
Using a comma alone to join two independent clauses results in a comma splice, which is grammatically incorrect.
Independent clauses must be separated by a period, a semicolon, or a comma accompanied by a coordinating conjunction.
3
Compare the remaining choices to find the grammatically correct revision.
The option that replaces the comma with a semicolon correctly links the two clauses without creating a fragment or keeping the comma splice.
A semicolon is designed to connect two closely related independent clauses.

Key Concept

Connecting Independent Clauses
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Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

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