Semi colon in a sentence

[JoyceWainwright]

Patrick studied all night, that's why he got an A on the exam
Would this sentence need a semicolon after night?

 

[charliedeut]

Patrick studied all night, that's why he got an A on the exam
Would this sentence need a semicolon after night?

Hi and welcome on board, Joyce,

In my opinion, it is OK with a comma. If you want to use a semi colon, here's how I would do it:

Patrick studied all night; he got an A on the exam.

I was taught to use the semi colon when I wanted (or needed, for the sake of space) to leave something out of the sentence.

Hope it helps.

Greetings,

Charliedeut

 

[TheParser]

Patrick studied all night, that's why he got an A on the exam
Would this sentence need a semicolon after night?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Ms. Wainwright,


(1) Because I am old-fashioned (and old), your sentence does not

"work" for me. And I think it would not work for some stricter teachers.

(2) If you wanted to use a comma, I think that you would have to include

a conjunction:

Patrick studied all night, so that's why he got an A on the exam.

(NOTE: Maybe some super strict teachers would tell you that the

words "that's why" are not really necessary.)

(3) I think that a semicolon -- as you said -- would also be correct:

Patrick studied all night; he got an A on the exam.

(NOTE: See how much smoother and "dramatic" it is without "that's

why")?

(4) And, of course, you would be correct if you wrote:

Patrick studied all night. That's why he got an A on the exam.

Patrick studied all night. He got an A on the exam.

(5) Personally, I favor the sentence with so.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[engee30]

Patrick studied all night, that's why he got an A on the exam
Would this sentence need a semicolon after night?

♥♦♣♠ NOT A TEACHER ♥♦♣♠

I'm not going to comment on the usage of semicolon. I'm going to talk school-wise, so to speak - Patrick had been studying/had studied all night; that's why he got an A on the exam would be a better-written sentence to me.

 

[allenman]

Patrick had been studying/had studied all night; that's why he got an A on the exam would be a better-written sentence to me.

Disagree. The original sentence sounds/works better.
If you had said Since Patrick had been studying...
and then added the reason I would agree with you. But you did not.

Not a teacher-- just a NATIVE.