Which sentence properly uses a semicolon to join two independent clauses without a conjunction?

Which sentence properly uses a semicolon to join two independent clauses without a conjunction?

• A. The sun was shining; it was a beautiful day.
• B. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful day.
• C. The sun was shining; and it was a beautiful day.
• D. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day.

Answer: (A)

Using a semicolon to connect two independent clauses without a conjunction shows the ideas are closely related while keeping them as separate sentences. In this sentence, “The sun was shining” and “it was a beautiful day” are both complete thoughts that could stand alone as sentences. The semicolon sits between them to link the related statements without adding a conjunction, which is exactly how a semicolon should be used. The other options violate the rule in different ways: a comma between two independent clauses creates a comma splice, placing a semicolon before and is not standard usage, and using a comma with and joins the clauses with a conjunction, which does not fulfill the requirement of joining with a semicolon alone.