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Edit: (I apologize if my question does not make sense. English is not my first language)
Hello, I have just started learning English from online resources and I cannot figure out which sentence is correct:
1st: John was hurt; he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses semi-colon)
2nd: John was hurt, he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses comma)
3rd: John was hurt, but he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses comma and "but")
Thanks
While the first and the third are grammatical, the second is not.
1st: John was hurt; he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses semi-colon)
This one is correct because both "John was hurt" and "he knew she only said it to upset him" are independent clauses (meaning they may stand independently). Either the semi-colon or a full stop are permitted.
2nd: John was hurt, he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses comma)
The second is not grammatical. It has an error called a "comma splice."
3rd: John was hurt, but he knew she only said it to upset him. (uses comma and "but")
The third one is correct. It uses a coordinating conjunction to combine the two thoughts.
1st and 3rd are both much the same. No.2 isn't really normal usage.
Imagine replacing the semi-colon with a full-stop - the sentence still makes sense as two seperate sentences. Alternatively, imagine removing the comma, and the sentence no longer 'flows' correctly.
