This sentence is from my essay. Is the semi-colon correct?
His most famous residence is the Kaufmann Residence; esteemed for its use of organic architecture with Japanese architectural components to create harmony with the residence and nature.
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1While most proof reading questions are off topic, this one is fine (on that front) because it specifies the part of the sentence which is an issue.– user10893Commented Jun 17, 2013 at 0:08
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@simchona: ...and it is therefore not proofreading.– Cerberus - Reinstate MonicaCommented Jun 17, 2013 at 0:12
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@Cerberus: ...but it is perilously close to "writing advice", I feel.– FumbleFingersCommented Jun 17, 2013 at 1:19
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@FumbleFingers: Whatever that means, and whatever would be wrong with that...– Cerberus - Reinstate MonicaCommented Jun 17, 2013 at 1:31
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@Cerberus: As ever, I don't care much for questions on punctuation, which doesn't really exist in what I think of as "real" English. That's to say, the spoken form. (But I did upvote your answer - partly because obviously it was right, but mainly because of the "writing advice" that OP would do better to rephrase such a ????? sentence! :)– FumbleFingersCommented Jun 17, 2013 at 1:39
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2 Answers
No, I'm afraid you need to replace it with a comma or recast the sentence (I would choose the latter). You'd normally only use a semicolon if the part that comes after is an independent sentence. This is not one of the typical exceptions.
answered Jun 17, 2013 at 0:05
Cerberus - Reinstate MonicaCerberus - Reinstate Monica
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The general construction your sample exemplifies, in learned written English, is:
[Clause establishing topic], [Comment on topic]
In this case, the topic is "the Kaufmann Residence," and you have a comment consisting of an adjective phrase ("esteemed for..."). The comment need not be a full clause. Another example, from a piece of fiction occurring in the New Yorker:
She had a room on the side of a house, wobbly wooden stairs leading up.
When you use a semicolon to separate a topic-establishing clause and a comment, the comment must consist of a full clause. That is why it looks bad as it is.