Question

Is the following sentence missing semicolons or commas? If so, where?: Large supermarkets fascinate me I can find everything from frozen chow mein to soybean flour in one place.

Answer 1

Large supermarkets fascinate me; I can find everything from frozen chow mien to soybean flour in one place.

Explanation:

Semicolons and commas are both used to join independent clauses (simple sentences).

Commas that join independent clauses must also include a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, yet, or, but, so).

There is no coordinating conjunction to join the independent clauses "Large supermarkets fascinate me" and "I can find everything from chow mien to soybean flour in one place."

Semicolons join independent clauses without coordinating conjunctions.

Examples:

I like oranges; my sister prefers apples. (No coordinating conjunction)

I like oranges, and my sister prefers apples. (Coordinating conjunction and)