16Hit1600
Standard English ConventionsVery hardSemicolon before a clause that opens with 'because'

Standard English Conventions practice question

The reservoir was full again ____ because the spring had been so wet, the town lifted its ban on garden hoses.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A. ;Correct
  2. B. ,
  3. C. and
  4. D. .

Answer: A. ;

'The reservoir was full again' is complete, and so is 'because the spring had been so wet, the town lifted its ban'. A semicolon separates the two.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. ,
A comma between two complete clauses is a splice; the 'because' belongs to the second clause, not to the first.
C. and
'and because the spring had been so wet' would need a comma before 'and' — and the sentence has no comma there.
D. .
A period would work only with a capital letter; 'because' here is lowercase.

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