Is the following sentence missing commas or semicolons? If so, where?: The dark woods do not scare me but the howling I hear in the distance does.

1 Answer
Mar 16, 2016

A comma is needed between me and but

Explanation:

The dark woods do not scare me but the howling I hear in the distance does.

The above sentence is composed of two independent clauses (complete sentences) joined by the coordinating conjunction but.

Remember FANBOYS? For-And-Nor-But-Or-Yet-So

These are the seven coordinating conjunctions.

When these conjunctions join independent clauses, a comma is needed.

So here's the right way of writing the sentence:

The dark woods do not scare me, but the howling I hear in the distance does.

I hope this helps. :)