Praxis Writing : Semicolons

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Praxis Writing

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 : Identifying Other Punctuation Errors

Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.

According to the survey; business owners who employed more than one hundred workers were twice as likely to oppose unionization as were owners of smaller businesses. No error

Possible Answers:

No error

who

survey;

were twice as likely

Correct answer:

survey;

Explanation:

The error here occurs in the punctuation of the dependent introductory clause. Since this opening clause is introductory in nature, it is considered a dependent clause. Semicolons can never punctuate dependent clauses, they must follow independent clauses. The rest of the sentence was correct as written.

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