Question

Does the following sentence have any missing commas or semicolons? If so, where?: She said she really liked the book she particularly liked the final three chapters.

Answer 1

The sentence must have a semicolon after "book."

`She  said  she  really  liked  the  book; she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked  the` `color(white)()` `` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three  chapters.`

Explanation:

This is really two independent clauses -- two separate sentences.

1) She said she really liked the book.
2) She particularly liked the final three chapters.

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

• When two independent clauses have no punctuation between them (the way they appear in the question), they make a "run-on sentence" error.

`She  said  she  really  liked  the  book  she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked   the` `color(white)()` `` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three  chapters.` `larr` run-on sentence

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

• When two independent clauses are joined with just a comma, they make a "comma splice" error.

`She said she really liked the  book, she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked  the` `color(white)()` `` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three  chapters.` `larr` comma splice

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

There are a few choices for correcting this error:

You can use a semicolon

1) If you must use a semicolon as implied in the question, then locate it after the word "book" to correct the punctuation.

A semicolon (without a coordinating conjunction) can be used to link two independent clauses

• when they are both closely related to the same idea
• when the "weight" or importance are the same for both.

https://www.proofreadnow.com/blog/bid/71799/The-Semicolon-and-Independent-Clauses

So the semicolon makes this correct:

`She  said  she  really  liked  the  book; she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked  the` `color(white)()` `` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three  chapters.`

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

You can use other punctuation

1) You can add a comma and a coordinating conjunction

`She said she really liked the book, but  she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked the` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three chapters.`

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

2) You can separate the independent clauses into two sentences by using a period between them

`She  said  she  really  liked  the  book. She` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked  the` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three  chapters.`

`color(white)(.mmmmmmm)`――――――――――

3) You can use a dash between the independent clauses

`She said she really liked the book  ―  she` `partic` `"u"larly` `liked the` `"final"` `` `color(white)()` `three chapters.`