Commas VS semicolons

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Kayla Archer
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Commas VS semicolons

Post by Kayla Archer »

I am a bit disappointed to receive a poor score for a review I recently submitted. My sentence was docked several points. Here is what I wrote:
. . . unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central, a swingers club is discovered, and bomb threats abound.

Here is what the editor corrected:
unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central(,) (;)a swingers club is discovered(,) (;)and bomb threats abound.

I requested a recheck, and the editor stated because these are IND clauses and can stand alone, they HAVE to have semicolons.
I can no longer speak to the editor. I can only blindly send this to the administrator to check.

BUT, I taught high school English for 6 years, and I know you can use a comma between IND clauses in a series as long as it is done correctly. I found the rule for this below:

The “rule” that you cite applies only to coordinate (i.e., “independent”) clauses when they are joined by the coordinating conjunction “and.” In this respect, it follows the general pattern for any grammatical units being joined by “and.” The pattern is “X, Y, and Z.” A good example is: “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” This pattern applies to words, phrases, and coordinate clauses joined by “and.” Thus, we get: [Clause X], [Clause Y], and [Clause Z]. Of course, technically you can add as many clauses as you like before the word “and.” For example:

Tom had a beer [1], Dick had a shot of whiskey [2], Harry had a Coke [3], and I had a glass of water [4].
If the sentence consists of several coordinate clauses and they are joined by a variety of coordinating conjunctions, the “rule” does not apply. The coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

Source:
(https://mmendis.wordpress.com/2014/11/1 ... njunction/)

How can I fight this without losing the battle and another admin recheck score?
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MsH2k
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Post by MsH2k »

Kayla Archer wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 11:37 I am a bit disappointed to receive a poor score for a review I recently submitted. My sentence was docked several points. Here is what I wrote:
. . . unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central, a swingers club is discovered, and bomb threats abound.

Here is what the editor corrected:
unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central(,) (;)a swingers club is discovered(,) (;)and bomb threats abound.

I requested a recheck, and the editor stated because these are IND clauses and can stand alone, they HAVE to have semicolons.
I can no longer speak to the editor. I can only blindly send this to the administrator to check.

BUT, I taught high school English for 6 years, and I know you can use a comma between IND clauses in a series as long as it is done correctly. I found the rule for this below:

The “rule” that you cite applies only to coordinate (i.e., “independent”) clauses when they are joined by the coordinating conjunction “and.” In this respect, it follows the general pattern for any grammatical units being joined by “and.” The pattern is “X, Y, and Z.” A good example is: “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” This pattern applies to words, phrases, and coordinate clauses joined by “and.” Thus, we get: [Clause X], [Clause Y], and [Clause Z]. Of course, technically you can add as many clauses as you like before the word “and.” For example:

Tom had a beer [1], Dick had a shot of whiskey [2], Harry had a Coke [3], and I had a glass of water [4].
If the sentence consists of several coordinate clauses and they are joined by a variety of coordinating conjunctions, the “rule” does not apply. The coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

Source:
(https://mmendis.wordpress.com/2014/11/1 ... njunction/)

How can I fight this without losing the battle and another admin recheck score?
Hi,
You are correct in your comma usage, and the source you provided supports it. You are also correct that you cannot add anything to your original recheck request before requesting an admin recheck. If you included the support you provided above, I am confident the admin will rule in your favor. If they do, you will not lose an admin recheck count and you will get the editor recheck back. If you did not include support for your case in your initial recheck, although the admin would be aware of the grammar rule you have stated, I’m not sure what they will do if you do not support your recheck request with valid evidence.

Remember to write an editor recheck request as if it will need to go for an admin recheck too, with references and an explanation, just as you have given here.
"Knowing what must be done does away with fear."
Rosa Parks
Kayla Archer
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Post by Kayla Archer »

MsH2k wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 20:21
Kayla Archer wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 11:37 I am a bit disappointed to receive a poor score for a review I recently submitted. My sentence was docked several points. Here is what I wrote:
. . . unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central, a swingers club is discovered, and bomb threats abound.

Here is what the editor corrected:
unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central(,) (;)a swingers club is discovered(,) (;)and bomb threats abound.

I requested a recheck, and the editor stated because these are IND clauses and can stand alone, they HAVE to have semicolons.
I can no longer speak to the editor. I can only blindly send this to the administrator to check.

BUT, I taught high school English for 6 years, and I know you can use a comma between IND clauses in a series as long as it is done correctly. I found the rule for this below:

The “rule” that you cite applies only to coordinate (i.e., “independent”) clauses when they are joined by the coordinating conjunction “and.” In this respect, it follows the general pattern for any grammatical units being joined by “and.” The pattern is “X, Y, and Z.” A good example is: “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” This pattern applies to words, phrases, and coordinate clauses joined by “and.” Thus, we get: [Clause X], [Clause Y], and [Clause Z]. Of course, technically you can add as many clauses as you like before the word “and.” For example:

Tom had a beer [1], Dick had a shot of whiskey [2], Harry had a Coke [3], and I had a glass of water [4].
If the sentence consists of several coordinate clauses and they are joined by a variety of coordinating conjunctions, the “rule” does not apply. The coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

Source:
(https://mmendis.wordpress.com/2014/11/1 ... njunction/)

How can I fight this without losing the battle and another admin recheck score?
Hi,
You are correct in your comma usage, and the source you provided supports it. You are also correct that you cannot add anything to your original recheck request before requesting an admin recheck. If you included the support you provided above, I am confident the admin will rule in your favor. If they do, you will not lose an admin recheck count and you will get the editor recheck back. If you did not include support for your case in your initial recheck, although the admin would be aware of the grammar rule you have stated, I’m not sure what they will do if you do not support your recheck request with valid evidence.

Remember to write an editor recheck request as if it will need to go for an admin recheck too, with references and an explanation, just as you have given here.

Thank you for your help. I did ask the editor to recheck before I had this information, and they came back with the response above. How do I ask for the editor again? My page only shows to go to administrator.
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MsH2k
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Post by MsH2k »

Kayla Archer wrote: 19 Feb 2023, 12:21
MsH2k wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 20:21
Kayla Archer wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 11:37 I am a bit disappointed to receive a poor score for a review I recently submitted. My sentence was docked several points. Here is what I wrote:
. . . unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central, a swingers club is discovered, and bomb threats abound.

Here is what the editor corrected:
unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central(,) (;)a swingers club is discovered(,) (;)and bomb threats abound.

I requested a recheck, and the editor stated because these are IND clauses and can stand alone, they HAVE to have semicolons.
I can no longer speak to the editor. I can only blindly send this to the administrator to check.

BUT, I taught high school English for 6 years, and I know you can use a comma between IND clauses in a series as long as it is done correctly. I found the rule for this below:

The “rule” that you cite applies only to coordinate (i.e., “independent”) clauses when they are joined by the coordinating conjunction “and.” In this respect, it follows the general pattern for any grammatical units being joined by “and.” The pattern is “X, Y, and Z.” A good example is: “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” This pattern applies to words, phrases, and coordinate clauses joined by “and.” Thus, we get: [Clause X], [Clause Y], and [Clause Z]. Of course, technically you can add as many clauses as you like before the word “and.” For example:

Tom had a beer [1], Dick had a shot of whiskey [2], Harry had a Coke [3], and I had a glass of water [4].
If the sentence consists of several coordinate clauses and they are joined by a variety of coordinating conjunctions, the “rule” does not apply. The coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

Source:
(https://mmendis.wordpress.com/2014/11/1 ... njunction/)

How can I fight this without losing the battle and another admin recheck score?
Hi,
You are correct in your comma usage, and the source you provided supports it. You are also correct that you cannot add anything to your original recheck request before requesting an admin recheck. If you included the support you provided above, I am confident the admin will rule in your favor. If they do, you will not lose an admin recheck count and you will get the editor recheck back. If you did not include support for your case in your initial recheck, although the admin would be aware of the grammar rule you have stated, I’m not sure what they will do if you do not support your recheck request with valid evidence.

Remember to write an editor recheck request as if it will need to go for an admin recheck too, with references and an explanation, just as you have given here.

Thank you for your help. I did ask the editor to recheck before I had this information, and they came back with the response above. How do I ask for the editor again? My page only shows to go to administrator.
You only get one shot to give your reasons for requesting a recheck, and your explanation must be thorough and include links where possible. If the editor rejects your request, you may forward the original request on to the admins. If you did not include any rationale in the original recheck request, it may be best not to request an admin recheck and risk losing an admin recheck count as well as the editor recheck you have just lost. Perhaps @Alice in Scotland can weigh in on this.
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Post by Alice Heritage »

Kayla Archer wrote: 18 Feb 2023, 11:37 I am a bit disappointed to receive a poor score for a review I recently submitted. My sentence was docked several points. Here is what I wrote:
. . . unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central, a swingers club is discovered, and bomb threats abound.

Here is what the editor corrected:
unfortunate information keeps leaking from Central(,) (;)a swingers club is discovered(,) (;)and bomb threats abound.

I requested a recheck, and the editor stated because these are IND clauses and can stand alone, they HAVE to have semicolons.
I can no longer speak to the editor. I can only blindly send this to the administrator to check.

BUT, I taught high school English for 6 years, and I know you can use a comma between IND clauses in a series as long as it is done correctly. I found the rule for this below:

The “rule” that you cite applies only to coordinate (i.e., “independent”) clauses when they are joined by the coordinating conjunction “and.” In this respect, it follows the general pattern for any grammatical units being joined by “and.” The pattern is “X, Y, and Z.” A good example is: “Tom, Dick, and Harry.” This pattern applies to words, phrases, and coordinate clauses joined by “and.” Thus, we get: [Clause X], [Clause Y], and [Clause Z]. Of course, technically you can add as many clauses as you like before the word “and.” For example:

Tom had a beer [1], Dick had a shot of whiskey [2], Harry had a Coke [3], and I had a glass of water [4].
If the sentence consists of several coordinate clauses and they are joined by a variety of coordinating conjunctions, the “rule” does not apply. The coordinating conjunctions are “and,” “but,” “for,” “or,” “nor,” “so,” and “yet.”

Source:
(https://mmendis.wordpress.com/2014/11/1 ... njunction/)

How can I fight this without losing the battle and another admin recheck score?
Hi - if I understood this correctly you found the source only after the recheck and now cannot enter the link to it?

While it is ideal to include links to information indicating that the grammar you used is correct, I'd still advise you to ask for an admin recheck if you know you're right. You have taught English and been told on here that your punctuation was correct in that sentence, and you found information about the rule even if you can't add to the recheck. Adding links to a recheck request is more for the benefit of the editor, though, so that they can check whether they were correct. The admin team are knowledgable about English grammar. So if you're secure in your knowledge and you've found sources that agree with you, the chances are the admins will too.

I hope this helps ...
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Kayla Archer
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Post by Kayla Archer »

Thank you so much for your encouragement and help!
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