is this sentence correct?

[mileslinda]

The defendant was not credible; therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

 

[emsr2d2]

The defendant was not credible; therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

I say this a lot, but I don't like the use of the semi-colon. To be honest, I rarely like the use of a semi-colon so the problem could be mine, not a problem with the sentence. However, I would say:

- The defendant was not credible so the jury voted to convict her.
- The defendant was not credible. As a result, the jury voted to convict her.
- The defendant was not credible. Therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

I also wonder about "voted to convict". It may be the AmE way, but in BrE, we would say "the jury found her guilty".

Edit: I have amended my third sentence because the original was nonsense.

 

[TheParser]

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


I am 99.99% sure that most American teachers would have a heart attack if you did not set off

"therefore" in some way:

The defendant was not credible; therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

The defendant was not credible. Therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

IMHO, if you wrote, "The defendant was not credible therefore the jury voted to convict her," an ambulance

would have to take your poor teacher to the hospital.

 

[emsr2d2]

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


I am 99.99% sure that most American teachers would have a heart attack if you did not set off

"therefore" in some way:

The defendant was not credible; therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

The defendant was not credible. Therefore, the jury voted to convict her.

IMHO, if you wrote, "The defendant was not credible therefore the jury voted to convict her," an ambulance

would have to take your poor teacher to the hospital.

Apologies. I just looked back at my third sentence and have no idea what I was doing! It was meant to be split into two sentences! Duly edited.

 

[SoothingDave]

I would say "The jury did not find the defendant credible, so they found her guilty."

 

[emsr2d2]

I would say "The jury did not find the defendant credible, so they found her guilty."

So would I.