Board Thread:General Wiki Discussion/@comment-25037895-20140812182851

=Sentence Structure:= Sentences are made of clauses. Clauses are also called sentence fragments. These terms are inter-changeable.

Independent clauses stand on their own. They can make a whole sentence or combine with other clauses to make a whole sentence.

Example of two independent clauses combined using a comma:

I ran far and deep into the forest, only to find that my compass was broken.

Examples of independent and dependent clause combined without the use of comma:

Women like a man that is sensitive.

Courage runs deep in their veins.

The attendant waited by the entrance.

Independent and dependent clauses can always be combined with or without the use of a comma. More than two independent clauses can be combined with dependent clauses using a semi colon. More than two dependent next to each other requires the use of punctuation, prepositional phrase (between, around, underneath, into, within, etc) or coordinating conjunction (as, for, and, so, because, such, etc)

Example of three independent clauses and two dependent clauses combined using a semi colon: That guy that plays the trumpet in the school band invited me to his party tonight; Stacy, Derek, Emily, Conner, and Alex want to meet us there.


 * Let's breakdown this sentence. Stacy, Derek, Emily, Conner, and Alex are dependent clauses. They are separated by comma and, therefore, a semi colon is necessary to complete this sentence.

If you were to add just one more independent clause, then punctuation is required: That guy that plays trumpet in the school band invited me to his party tonight, we're playing poker.

If you were to add just one more independent clause again, then you would have a run-on sentence: That guy that plays trumpet in the school band invited me to his party tonight, we're playing poker, but you're not invited.

This can be corrected by using a semi colon: That guy that plays trumpet in the school band invited me to his party tonight; we're playing poker, but you're not invited.

Still, it is more grammatically correct to break this example into two sentences: That guy that plays trumpet in the school band invited me to his party tonight. We're playing poker, but you're not invited. 