[Grammar] is there anything wrong in this sentence?

[Katherine Gan]

hello,

I've confused about the following sentence in one textbook:

The fundamental atomic components of plants are the same as for all life; only the details of the way in which they are assembled differs.

Question 1: Is the word "differs" right here? or “differ”？
Question 2： Why the writer use semi-colon between the two sentences? or can the semi-colon be taken placed by a comma plus and?

thank you very much in advance and I'll appreciate your help greatly!

 

[SoothingDave]

1. Should be "differ." Details differ. Confusion was here because of "way" being closer to the verb.
2. Semicolons are used sometimes to join related ideas into one sentence, but where there is a significant pause.

 

[Katherine Gan]

Thanks a lot!

And I'm not sure about the use of semicolons and comma.:-(

 

[Barb_D]

Grammatically you can join them with a comma and an "and" but it doesn't work well to do that in this case. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

 

[lotus888]

A nice, brief explanation of the semicolon:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/semicolon.htm

A more detailed explanation of the comma:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

To finish it off, an explanation of the colon:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm



--lotus

 

[2006]

To finish it off, an explanation of the colon:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm


--lotus[/QUOTE]
No wonder there is so much bad colon use.

 

[lotus888]

A nice, brief explanation of the semicolon follows:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/gramm.../semicolon.htm

A more detailed explanation of the comma follows:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

To finish it off, an explanation of the colon follows:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm


Is that better? It just looked cooler with the big words last, and without sounding repetitive and dry.


--lotus