SC guide-Chapter 10-Page#197-Que#8

[jerly_vivek]

8: The composer.........: in.....symphonies.
The explanation for this problem says that usage of colon is right here. But i see a semicolon to be better option than colon. Both sentences (before and after colon) can stand independently and yet they are related.
Please explain why using semicolon would be a bad choice.

[Ben Ku]

A semicolon is used to join two independent clauses, where second builds on the first. A colon can be used to join two independent clauses where the second completes the thought in the first clause.

In the sentence you referenced:

The composer is regarded more for the quality than for the quantity of her work: in two decades, she has written fewer than twenty complete works, including just three symphonies.

Here, the second half explains what the writer means by the first half. You can use the colon to represent: "what I mean by this is ...". Here we would use the colon because it completes the thought.

It would not be grammatically wrong in this sentence to use a semi-colon. However, using a semi-colon would alter the meaning that the colon represents.

Hope that makes sense.

[vscidd]

A semicolon is used to join two independent clauses, where second builds on the first. A colon can be used to join two independent clauses where the second completes the thought in the first clause.

In the sentence you referenced:

The composer is regarded more for the quality than for the quantity of her work: in two decades, she has written fewer than twenty complete works, including just three symphonies.

Here, the second half explains what the writer means by the first half. You can use the colon to represent: "what I mean by this is ...". Here we would use the colon because it completes the thought.

It would not be grammatically wrong in this sentence to use a semi-colon. However, using a semi-colon would alter the meaning that the colon represents.

Hope that makes sense.

Ben,
Can a colon be used to join 1 independent and 1 dependent clause? Also, why do you say here that a semi-colon would change the meaning?

[tim]

The semicolon would change the meaning because all of a sudden it would change the sentence into two closely related clauses rather than one clause that further clarifies the other. This creates a shift in how the reader is supposed to perceive the function of the two parts of the sentence..

To answer your question about a colon connecting an independent clause and a dependent clause, you should think carefully about what a dependent clause is. Colons are typically used to provide examples or clarification rather than to introduce new information in the way we typically see with a dependent clause. That's not to say it would be impossible to do what you ask about, but your analysis should be whether the colon does what it is supposed to, rather than whether the part after the colon fits into a particular category of construction..