Question

How do you diagram a compound sentence in which the two independent clauses are joined with a colon?

Answer 1

Hint:A compound sentence is a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses which are joined by a comma, semicolon or a conjunction. An independent clause, for that matter of fact, is a clause that comprises a subject and verb and forms a complete statement . An example of a compound sentence is, 'This house is too expensive, and that house is cheaper. We will see how we form a compound sentence by joining two independent clauses joined by a colon in the complete answer below.

Complete answer:
Let us discuss how we can construct a compound sentence with two independent clauses joining them by a colon.
We all know that we can use a semicolon and conjunctions to join two sentences to create a compound sentence. There is also a way to join the two independent clauses with a colon. We take this way when the two sentences are closely related. But when the first sentence of the pair creates an expectation in the reader that the second sentence fulfils. In other words the second sentence illustrates, explains, elaborates or exemplifies the idea expressed in the first sentence.
Example:- We have two options here: stay and fight or run like cowards.

Note:The use of colon is a little softer than the period, but a little harder than the semicolon. Whenever, the second independent clause is an explanation of the first one, we always use a colon to join them. The first sentence can seem incomplete without the second.