Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

Japan's prosperity is built on individual sacrifices ; living in a small house and working without enough holidays.

Is it OK to change the semicolon into "of" ?
If so, do we need "the" before "indivisual sacrifices" ?

Regards,
Junkomama

[CP]

I don't think it's correct with the semicolon, since what follows the semicolon is just a phrase. If you added "the" and changed ";" to "of," as you asked about, I think that would be correct.

In addition, I would say that all the following are correct:

"Japan's prosperity is built on individual sacrifices, such as living in a small house and working without enough holidays."

"Japan's prosperity is built on individual sacrifices -- living in a small house and working without enough holidays, for example."

"Japan's prosperity is built on such individual sacrifices as living in a small house and working without enough holidays."
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[Junkomama]

Thank you very much for your answer, CP-san!!

>I don't think it's correct with the semicolon, since what follows the semicolon is just a phrase.

Do you mean a close should follow a semicolon?
Is the sentence below acceptable?

"Japan's prosperity is built on individual sacrifices; people live in small houses and work without enough holidays."

Sorry to ask many questions, but・・・
"Japan's prosperity exisits at the cost of individuals' life, in which they live in small houses and work without enough holidays.
I think this sentence is a little awkward. Would you please correct it?

Regards,
Junkomama