This sentence contains a semicolon where a comma is needed. Semicolons are used to join two independent clauses without a conjunction. The phrase "On the way to the town" is not only a dependent clause, but an example of an introductory phrase, explaining information necessary to the context of the sentence, but outside of the main sentence, grammatically. These types of phrases must be followed by a comma in order to separate them from the rest of the sentence. The correct choice is, "On the way to the town, the merchant bought."

This sentence misuses a semicolon. Semicolons are used to join two related independent clauses. The phrase "a Ford Mustang Convertible" is not an independent clause, however. A colon is the appropriate punctuation here, since "a Ford Mustang Convertible" explains exactly what kind car "she" wanted. Colons join two clauses when the second explains something about the first clause. The correct choice is, "the car she always wanted: a Ford Mustang Convertible."

This sentence misuses the semicolon. Semicolons are used to join two related independent clauses when a coordinate conjunction in not present. While these clauses are independent and related, the word "but" is a coordinate conjunction. In this case, the most appropriate punctuation is a comma before the conjunction (in this case, "but"). The correct choice is, "piece for months, but he did not like the outcome."

This sentence misuses the semicolon. Semicolons join two independent clauses when a conjunction is not present. The word "because," however, is a conjunction. Furthermore, unlike other conjunctions, the word "because" does not take a comma in sentence. The correct choice is, "He studied everyday for his upcoming test because."

The correct answer joins two independent clauses with a semi-colon, not a comma. The sentences in which the semi-colon attempts to join an independent clause and a dependent clause or some kind of modifier are incorrect. Some of the incorrect answers also show errors in parallelism.

This sentence does not contain a semicolon where necessary. The sentence combines two related independent clauses without the use of a conjunction, so a semicolon should appear in this place (after the word "road"). No other changes are necessary. The correct choice is, "they drove down the road; they also sung along at the top of their lungs"

This sentence misuses the comma. The sentence combines two related independent clauses without the use of a conjunction. In these cases, a semicolon should be used instead. Note that a colon would be inappropriate here as "they planned to celebrate afterwards" does not explain how or why they are winning the game or even why they are playing the game. The correct choice is, " the game; they planned to celebrate afterwards."

This sentence combines two related independent clauses without the use of a conjunction. When this occurs, a semicolon should be placed between the clauses. A semicolon should appear after the word "individual." The correct choice is, "creative individual; he dabbled in every area of art."

This sentence does not contain a semicolon where one is necessary. This sentence combines two related independent clauses without the use of a conjunction. When this occurs, a semicolon should appear between them. A semicolon should appear after the word "sun." The correct choice is, "because of its orbit around the sun; each region's exposure to the sun's rays determines."

This sentence does not contain a semicolon where necessary. The sentence joins two related independent clauses without the use of a conjunction. When this occurs, the clauses should be separated by a semicolon, which, in this instance, should appear after the word "eat." The correct choice is, " into the city, he stopped to eat; he would not have free time."