Usage of ";"

[venjam]

Hi All,

Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art and also believed in recycling at home; he once turned a broken goblet into a dinner bell and a cake mold into a lamp.
(A) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art and also believed in recycling at home; he
(B) Alexander Calder, for whom old pieces of junk was often made into sculpture, believed in recycling at home and
(C) A believer in recycling at home, sculptor Alexander Calder often made use for old pieces of junk in his art; he
(D) Alexander Calder, for whom sculpture was often made from old pieces of junk, also believed in recycling at home, for example, he
(E) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art, also believed in recycling at home; he

Here is a question where i am trying to eliminate wrong answers by ";"

Please let me know when and when not to use ";"

My understanding is ";" splits two sentences into two independent sentences,but "he" after ; depends on the main sentence and E is shown as correct option

Please clarify

Thanks

[henryjejo]

Hi Venjam, The independent sentence can start with a pronoun that refers back to the 1st independent clause. Hence, E is perfectly fine here. The only condition is that the second sentence should have a subject, verb and an object.

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

Hi All,

Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art and also believed in recycling at home; he once turned a broken goblet into a dinner bell and a cake mold into a lamp.
(A) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art and also believed in recycling at home; he
(B) Alexander Calder, for whom old pieces of junk was often made into sculpture, believed in recycling at home and
(C) A believer in recycling at home, sculptor Alexander Calder often made use for old pieces of junk in his art; he
(D) Alexander Calder, for whom sculpture was often made from old pieces of junk, also believed in recycling at home, for example, he
(E) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art, also believed in recycling at home; he

On the GMAT, the sole purpose of a semicolon is to separate two independent clauses.

(A) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art and also believed in recycling at home; he
The part in blue is a clause that modifies (describes) Alexander. As such, the entire part before the semicolon is not an independent clause. It does not express an complete idea.

(B) Alexander Calder, for whom old pieces of junk was often made into sculpture, believed in recycling at home and
First, Alex created the art. This sentence suggests that others made the art for Alex. Also, it should be "pieces of junk were..."

(C) A believer in recycling at home, sculptor Alexander Calder often made use for old pieces of junk in his art; he
The correct idiom is "...made us of..."

(D) Alexander Calder, for whom sculpture was often made from old pieces of junk, also believed in recycling at home, for example, he
First, Alex created the art. This sentence suggests that others made the art for Alex. Second, the clause "for example, he once turned a broken goblet into a dinner bell and a cake mold into a lamp" is an independent clause. As such, we need more than a comma to separate this independent clause from the first independent clause.

(E) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art, also believed in recycling at home; he
Here, we have two independent clauses separated by a semicolon.

So, E is the best answer.

Cheers,
Brent

[jeet14s]

(E) Sculptor Alexander Calder, who often made use of old pieces of junk in his art, also believed in recycling at home; he

Isn't the 'also' given in option E redundnant?

[EducationAisle]

My understanding is ";" splits two sentences into two independent sentences

Not necessarily. Following is a correct sentence (#22) in OG16:

Tropical bats play important roles in the rain forest ecosystem, aiding in the dispersal of cashew, date, and fig seeds; pollinating banana, breadfruit, and mango trees; and indirectly helping to produce tequila by pollinating agave plants.