Better sentence-writing in 30 minutes a day - Dianna Campbell 1995

Other introductory words and phrases
Using semicolons
Punctuating sentence combinations

The list we have given you is certainly not complete, but it’s a good basic list of introductory words that can be used in creating this particular sentence structure. But there are many other expressions that can serve as introductory words and phrases before a clause. You’ll probably come up with a variety in your own writing. Look at these two examples:

(a) The manager of a professional baseball team can visit the pitcher on the mound only once; after that, he can’t go out again unless he’s going to call in a reliever.

(b) There are many legends about the Canary Islands; according to one, the islands are really the highest peaks of Atlantis, the lost continent.

Exercise 3.10

Punctuate these sentences with semicolons and commas. Some sentences call for a semicolon only, and others call for a semicolon and a comma. (Label the key parts of clauses if you need to.)

1. The largest lake or inland sea in the world is the Caspian Sea however the biggest freshwater lake is Lake Superior.

2. The familiar word oriental refers to the people and culture of the East the less familiar word occidental refers to the people and culture of the West.

3. Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote a novel called The Gambler in fact the great Russian literary figure was himself a compulsive gambler.

4. North America is slowly moving westward at an annual rate of about three inches consequently the Atlantic Ocean is now about 20 feet wider than it was when Columbus crossed it.

5. During the ninth-century reign of Alfred, King of the West Saxons, there was a specific punishment for practically every bodily injury for example if a person’s thigh were pierced, he or she could collect a fine of 30 shillings from the injuring party.

6. A copyright stays in effect for the lifetime of the creator of the copyrighted work in fact it is valid for his or her lifetime plus 50 years.

7. In O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” a husband sells his watch in order to buy his wife a pair of combs for her beautiful hair the wife cuts off her long hair and sells it in order to buy her husband a fob chain for his watch.

8. Much of Humphrey Bogart’s mystique came as a result of his wonderful performance in Casablanca however few people know that Ronald Reagan was originally cast as Rick, the main character.

9. An amulet is an object that supposedly protects a person against bad luck a talisman is something that is thought to attract good luck.

10. A wolf’s eye, a stone with a hole in it, and a horseshoe are examples of amulets a four-leaf clover and a rabbit’s foot are examples of talismans.