comma or semi-colon?

Question

Im an unsure whter I should go with a comma here or a semi-colon?

"Mary Warren was too scared to testify against Abigail Williams(,)(;) thus more concerned about herself than the numerous innocent people who are wrongly accused."

I'm thinking the comma.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Im an unsure whter I should go with a comma here or a semi-colon?

"Mary Warren was too scared to testify against Abigail Williams(,)(

thus more concerned about herself than the numerous innocent people who are wrongly accused."

I'm thinking the comma. Yes. A semi-colon would be incorrect, because what would follow it would not be in a form that could be an independent sentence. In other words, the second part is just an adjectival phrase.

I would say 'were . . . accused' rather than 'are . . accused'.

If I wanted to write very carefully, I'd put 'and ' before 'thus'.

Best wishes, Clive

comma or semi-colon?

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