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I am writing a review for a novel, and I want to use a semi-colon. When I wrote the sentence "There was an unexpectedly high level of violence, even for a crime novel; a gore warning should have been added.", I got an error from Grammarly saying there is something wrong with what came after the semi-colon, but I don't know what. I tried using a period instead of a colon and it is still highlighted as having a problem.

AmyDiMaio wrote: ↑26 Jan 2023, 04:04 I am writing a review for a novel, and I want to use a semi-colon. When I wrote the sentence "There was an unexpectedly high level of violence, even for a crime novel; a gore warning should have been added.", I got an error from Grammarly saying there is something wrong with what came after the semi-colon, but I don't know what. I tried using a period instead of a colon and it is still highlighted as having a problem.

"There was an unexpectedly high level of violence, even for a crime novel; a warning for gore should have been added."

Does that appease the Grammarly Gods?

AmyDiMaio wrote: ↑26 Jan 2023, 04:04 "There was an unexpectedly high level of violence, even for a crime novel; a gore warning should have been added."

Hi,

I don’t see anything technically wrong with the sentence as you have written it. You have used the semicolon correctly, separating two independent causes. Grammar checkers can give false or unclear guidance, especially with punctuation. It may be trying to parse your sentence differently for clarity. Perhaps connecting the phrase “even for a crime novel” to the second clause would make the sentence clearer:

There was an unexpectedly high level of violence; even for a crime novel, a gore warning should have been added.

FYI, here is an excellent reference on semicolons, but I think this particular issue is style related.

https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/semicolon.html

Use a semicolon to indicate that the two sentences are to be given equal weight. A list or series is introduced by a colon.