Sooris wrote:Can we use 'however' without a semicolon before it?Which is correct?He worked hard,however he did not pass the examOrHe worked hard;however he did not pass the exam.OrHe worked hard;however, he did not pass the exam.
Most learners are more or less confused with the use of semicolons. Here are the guidelines.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5955_semicolon.html
For your questions, try:
He worked hard, however, he did not pass the exam.
or
He worked hard; however, he did not pass the exam.
Inchoateknowledge wrote:He worked hard, however, he did not pass the exam. or He worked hard; however, he did not pass the exam.
This ends up looking like a comma splice to me. Two independent clauses joined by a comma.
I believe that the semi-colon is necessary, and a comma is incorrect. See this and this. (Searh for "however" on the sites to get to the pertinent sections more quickly.)
Grammar Geek wrote: This ends up looking like a comma splice to me. Two independent clauses joined by a comma. I believe that the semi-colon is necessary, and a comma is incorrect. See this and this. (Searh for "however" on the sites to get to the pertinent sections more quickly.)
Barbara,
I agee with your comment.
He worked hard. However, he did not pass the exam. ( Replace the comma with a full stop. )
Conjunctive adverbs are often confused with coordinating conjunctions such as 'and', 'but', 'for', 'nor', 'or', 'yet' or 'while'. One difference is that coordinating conjunctions join clauses of equal rank and conjunctive adverbs do not. Another difference is that conjunctive adverbs are not true linking devices themselves, as indicated by their needing semicolons: I don't have enough butter for my bread; therefore, I'll buy butter to make my bread taste better. Flexibility The flexibility of the conjunctive adverb in the sentence also indicates they aren't true linking devices like coordinating conjunctions. For example, the second part of this sentence could also be written: ...I will therefore buy some butter to make my bread taste better.
However, I read somewhere -- I do not remember where -- that "however" may not stand elsewhere than at the beginning of a sentence.