8.149 USAGE NOTE

Sometimes, in writing, two clauses can be made into one sentence without a coordinating conjunction being used. Instead, a semicolon or a dash is put between the clauses. This is a way of expressing two statements in one sentence when no particular coordinating conjunction seems appropriate.

• The neighbours drove by; they couldn't bear to look.
• When we embraced I couldn't say thank you --- those words were far too small for someone who had risked her life to save mine.