Video Lesson

Semicolons with conjunctions

conjunctions like and, but, and or. We don't use those words plus a semicolon. It's a bit like saying and and or but but. We don't need both. So, we could have Far stranger comb...

Course: Finding your English levelSection: Common punctuation mistakesSubtitles: en

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30 subtitle cues

3:43

coordinating

3:43

conjunctions like and, but, and or.

3:47

We don't use those words plus a

3:49

semicolon. It's a bit like saying and

3:52

and or but but. We don't need both. So,

3:55

we could have

3:57

Far stranger combinations exist

4:00

semicolon, they work incredibly well.

4:03

Or Far stranger combinations exist and

4:07

they work incredibly well. The second is

4:10

the most natural option. You can use a

4:12

comma before and there, but it's

4:15

optional and often not used in British

4:17

English. Moving on to the next line. Two

4:21

mistakes here. Try to find them. Many

4:23

people swear by strawberries dipped in

4:26

balsamic vinegar, which enhances the

4:29

fruit's natural sweetness. Full stop.

4:32

Honestly, that sounds delicious. Let me

4:33

know if you've tried it.

4:35

Okay, punctuation.

4:37

We're missing a comma before which.

4:40

Here, which introduces a non-defining

4:44

relative clause. And we use a comma

4:46

before these types of clauses.

4:48

In speech, commas tend to indicate a

4:51

slight pause. In that sentence, the

4:53

missing comma probably didn't cause you

4:55

much trouble, but commas or lack of

4:59

commas can

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