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.

1 Answer
Mar 4, 2018

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.#