He took a new drug; abc, to treat the COVID.
He took a new drug that is abc to treat the COVID.
Is the first sentence correct? What if I use the colon?
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2 Answers
No.
A quick Google search brings this up:
A semicolon is most commonly used to link (in a single sentence) two independent clauses that are closely related in thought.
So that means what is before and what is after the semicolon each needs their own subject and verb.
You can offset the "abc" with commas and that is the same as saying "that is". I think this is called apposition.
He took a new drug, abc, to treat the COVID.
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1@LawrenceC Yes: "abc"is an appositive NP, more precisely a supplementary appositive, the non-modifying kind.– BillJNov 18, 2020 at 9:10
To answer your final question, here are some ways you could use a colon:
He took a new drug: abc.
or
To treat the coronavirus, he took a new drug: abc.
Or even
He took a new drug -- abc -- to treat the coronavirus.
But you really wouldn't say
NOT CORRECT: He took a new drug: abc to treat the coronavirus
However, this probably works:
He took a new drug: abc (to treat the coronavirus).
