This one is from an answer on Facebook to the question of what punctuation these sentences need:
...He worked late on Friday; so he couldn't attend the party.
...She approached the intersection cautiously; then she came to a complete stop.
"So" and "then" are, by nature, adverbs.
...was so excited...
...to then see what was happening...
When these adverbs are pulled out to the front of the sentence, they become connecting words, that is, "conjunctive adverbs" -- in other words, words that are normally adverbs that are being used as conjunctions.
When this is the case, these "conjunctive adverbs" begin a new sentence and link that sentence back to the prior one. They show a relationship between the two sentences.
...I left early; therefore, I missed all the excitement.
...He called me; however, he didn't have time to talk.
We don't seem to have any issues with these words that I have used. I believe that is because they are more than one syllable, and it just "feels" correct to use the semicolon or period.
The one-syllable words -- "so," "then," "thus," "hence," "plus," "yet," "still" -- seem to give us more trouble.
When you look at these words, note that you cannot use them to start a conversation. That is, you cannot walk into the home of your good friend and have the first word out of your mouth be "so" or "yet" or "however." There is a presumption that something has already been said. These words link the sentence they begin back to a sentence that has already been said.
They begin a SENTENCE, not a dependent clause.
Part of the confusion here comes from the fact that the word "so" is used in two different ways:
One, "so" is used to mean "so that" or "in order that" and to imply the reason for doing something.
...I called so I could share the good news with him.
...I drove through Redding so I could have dinner with him.
...He went to the doctor so he could get pain medication.
In each case, the dependent adverb clause gives the reason for the action of the main verb and answers the question "why."
Two, "so" is used to mean "therefore." When it means "therefore," it is used to start a new sentence.
In the original sentence here, we are talking about the word "so" when it means "therefore," which means it is beginning a new sentence.
Two sentences cannot go together with a comma as that creates a run-on.
The correct punctuation for these sentences is a semicolon or a period. Happy punctuating! Margie
...was so excited...
...to then see what was happening...
When these adverbs are pulled out to the front of the sentence, they become connecting words, that is, "conjunctive adverbs" -- in other words, words that are normally adverbs that are being used as conjunctions.
When this is the case, these "conjunctive adverbs" begin a new sentence and link that sentence back to the prior one. They show a relationship between the two sentences.
...I left early; therefore, I missed all the excitement.
...He called me; however, he didn't have time to talk.
We don't seem to have any issues with these words that I have used. I believe that is because they are more than one syllable, and it just "feels" correct to use the semicolon or period.
The one-syllable words -- "so," "then," "thus," "hence," "plus," "yet," "still" -- seem to give us more trouble.
When you look at these words, note that you cannot use them to start a conversation. That is, you cannot walk into the home of your good friend and have the first word out of your mouth be "so" or "yet" or "however." There is a presumption that something has already been said. These words link the sentence they begin back to a sentence that has already been said.
They begin a SENTENCE, not a dependent clause.
Part of the confusion here comes from the fact that the word "so" is used in two different ways:
One, "so" is used to mean "so that" or "in order that" and to imply the reason for doing something.
...I called so I could share the good news with him.
...I drove through Redding so I could have dinner with him.
...He went to the doctor so he could get pain medication.
In each case, the dependent adverb clause gives the reason for the action of the main verb and answers the question "why."
Two, "so" is used to mean "therefore." When it means "therefore," it is used to start a new sentence.
In the original sentence here, we are talking about the word "so" when it means "therefore," which means it is beginning a new sentence.
Two sentences cannot go together with a comma as that creates a run-on.
The correct punctuation for these sentences is a semicolon or a period. Happy punctuating! Margie