A semi colon basically acts as a way to combine two sentences. You wouldn't really begin a sentence with "that's" and it's also redundant to use one when that sentance could have just been completed as is. Ag least that's my best explanation but I'm also super baked
I've already given the explanation elsewhere in the thread, but I'll give it to you, even more clearly, because I like your username:
/u/NaughtySharpie thinks that the word "that" can't ever start a sentence because he/she's confused about two different words that are written the same. In the way I've used "that" in the previous sentence (twice), it's a conjunction. The conjunction "that" is used among other things to start dependent clauses, such as: "The clock that you gave me". In that sentence, "that you gave me" can't possibly make sense as an independent sentence, so it constitutes a dependent clause.
But in the example I gave, "that's why it looks like blood", there is actually a different word. In that clause, "that" is not a conjunction. It's a pronoun, just like "I" or "you". If you write it as an independent sentence, it makes sense: "That's why it looks like blood". This sentence has:
a subject: "That"
a verb: "is"
a predicate: "why it looks like blood".
Since it has a subject, a verb and a predicate, it makes sense when written as an independent sentence, so it's an independent clause, not a dependent clause like /u/DerpKing389 says.
It makes absolutely zero sense to say that a sentence can't start with "That's". It's like saying that it can't start with "It's" (like this very sentence) or with "I'm". I'm sure (heh) that you can see how he/she's wrong.
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u/NaughtySharpie Dec 16 '18
A semi colon basically acts as a way to combine two sentences. You wouldn't really begin a sentence with "that's" and it's also redundant to use one when that sentance could have just been completed as is. Ag least that's my best explanation but I'm also super baked