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Question

Difficulty: EasySemicolons

Read the sentence and analyze the relationship between the clauses. Which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to correctly link the two independent clauses without using a coordinating conjunction?

Answer:Elena spent the morning painting the landscape 【;】 her brother worked on a clay sculpture.

Answer

A semicolon (;) is the correct punctuation mark to join the two independent clauses.
A semicolon is correct because it links two closely related independent clauses ('Elena spent the morning painting the landscape' and 'her brother worked on a clay sculpture') without a coordinating conjunction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the structure of the clauses on either side of the blank.
The clause before the blank ('Elena spent the morning painting the landscape') and the clause after the blank ('her brother worked on a clay sculpture') are both independent clauses because they can stand alone as complete sentences.
Determining the clause types helps identify which punctuation rules apply.
2
Select the correct punctuation mark to join two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
A semicolon (;) is used to link two closely related independent clauses when a coordinating conjunction is absent.
Using a comma here would create a comma splice, and using no punctuation would create a run-on sentence. Therefore, a semicolon is required.

Key Concept

Semicolons are used to connect two closely related independent clauses without the use of a coordinating conjunction.
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Topics

Semicolons

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