<p>i have no one to proofread my essay and i have ONE SIMPLE question</p>
<p>which one is the correct grammer?</p>
<p>a "I smelt in the air. high school was going to be different. "</p>
<p>b. I smelt in the air: high school was going to be different. </p>
<p>c. I smelt in the air; high school was going to be different. </p>
<p>thanks in advance</p>
<p>c. a is wrong since you didn't capitalize the h. b is wrong since colons are used only to introduce a list, a quote, a restatement(of the first independent clause), a connector for titles and time.</p>
<p>bobobabob I think a colon can be used to connect 2 independent clauses as long as the second clause explains, clarifies the first clause. Ie I ran to the kitchen: I was hungry. (Basically aslong as you can replace the colon with because or therefore) I'm not saying b is right, but I'm not sure that it's wrong either.</p>
<p>Also A is ok as long as he capitalizes the H after the period. and "I smelt in the air" sounds wrong, no?</p>
<p>Shouldn't it be "I smelt it in the air"? Otherwise, you're saying you were smelling while you were in the air. Anyways, it should be choice "b" Contrary to bobobabob's declaration about the uses of colons, they "introduce the part of a sentence that exemplifies, restates, elaborates, undermines, explains or balances the preceding part" (Eats Shoots & Leaves).</p>
<p>Using your sentence "I smelt it in the air (?) High school was going to be different," it is clear that the first part of the sentence needs to be "explained": the job of the colon.</p>
<p>(a) is wrong because the clauses need to be connected in order to make sense.
(c) is wrong because the relationship is closer than a semicolon would indicate.</p>
<p>So, it should be "I smelt it in the air: high school was going to be different."</p>
<p>thanks you guys!</p>
<p>i always had bad grammer.</p>
<p>I suggest not using the sentence. It's kind of cliched.</p>
<p>yes VERY cliche. I havent read your whole essay, and that one sentence makes me wanna not read the rest.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice you guys. i'm not going to trip myself over that sentence. i already sent in my app</p>
<p>but seriously, nguyent, youre a bit rude. every comment that you post always seem to bitter. i get the notion that you dont want anyone to make it to johns hopkins. maybe youre insecure?? who knows but lighten up. whatever you wanted to tell me, i understand, but gosh, be nicer. this goes for every mean comments you posted!!</p>
<p>and if somehow you did make it, congrats </p>
<p>but i dont think it matters because that wasnt my point :)</p>
<p>and i dont want to make any trouble... it just annoyed me for a while</p>
<p>I suggest you look up the past tense of smell. I think "smelt" is a fish or a process with metal. I also suggest that you get rid of the semi colon. Most of the time you are better off using two sentences rather than the semi colon unless you are a sophisticated writer or writing a rough draft and are not sure which way you want to go with the phrases.</p>
<p>i could smell it in the air: high school was going to be different</p>