annacolica  +  602235 Tue, 02 Dec 08 01:19 PM Before this century oysters were cheap they were not the luxury they are today. They were not eaten during the summer however it was safe to do so in the winter. They are very flavoursome but a lot of people don't like the thought of swallowing them the texture is off-putting. annacolica Joined on Tue, Dec 2 2008 New Member 01 Commas, Semicolons

	Yoong Liat  +  602275 Tue, 02 Dec 08 01:59 PM Hi Annacolica Welcome to the English Forums.  annacolica “Before this century, oysters were cheap; they were not the luxury they are today. They were not eaten during the summer; however, it was safe to do so in the winter. They are very flavoursome, but a lot of people don't like the thought of swallowing them; the texture is off-putting. ” Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Veteran Member 6,746 Commas, Semicolons

	Grammar Geek  +  602282 Tue, 02 Dec 08 02:04 PM Althought one of our illustrious members really advises against the semi-colon in general, I'm nearly as strongly opposed. However, I would say that three in one paragraph is too many. One is usually more than enough. (No more than one per page is probably more in keeping with how often it's really needed.) Yoong Liat is entirely correct if your only choices are commas or semi-colons, but at least two of them should be full stops instead. You can also change the middle section to "...the summer, but it was safe..." Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,506 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Colons, Commas, Paragraphs, Semicolons