Forum newsfeeds
Forum Newsfeeds


Sites for Teachers

Sites for Teachers


Go Back   UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum > Learning English > Ask a Teacher

Notices

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1 (permalink)  
Old 04-Apr-2008, 17:44
Unregistered
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default Semicolons/Colons

I am sometimes quite unsure how I am supposed to deal with semicolons and colons. I have a decent understanding of when a semicolon should be used, but my confusion is about what I can do with the portion that comes after the semicolon. The sentence below illustrates my confusion because I am not sure if it is a grammatically correct sentence.

---The basis of Leibniz's charge is twofold; miracles need to remain special and sacred and predictions about the world have to be possible.---

The portion after the semicolon contains two sentences combined with a conjuction. I know this is usually wrong, but the word "twofold" implies that two clauses have to follow. Any feed back on semicolons in general would be appreciated. I also have questions about the colon use, and I will post sentences below.

---These are: Descartes' interactionism, Malebranche's occasionalism, and Leibniz's pre-established harmony.---

---The two events compliment each other through their relation in time, and this leads to correlation. This is what we mean by harmony: inter-substantially and intra-substantially.

Any help would be great.

Thanks,

Hal
Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
  #2 (permalink)  
Old 06-Apr-2008, 03:00
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Country: America
Posts: 327
Current Location: Thailand
First Language: English
Thanks: 0
Thanked 47 Times in 47 Posts
oregeezer will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Semicolons/Colons

I have always thought of them as pauses in a speech. Semi colon, short pause (join two thoughts together); Colon, full stop (beginning of a long list).
Your first example makes more sense when paraphrased:
The basis of Leibniz's charge is twofold;
a.) miracles need to remain special and sacred and
b.) predictions about the world have to be possible.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
None

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


New To Site? Need Help?

All times are GMT. The time now is 17:07.


vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Optimization by vBSEO 3.2.0 RC5
Copyright © 2002 - 2008 UsingEnglish.com