human
Can you tell me the difference between a comma and a semicolon?
assistant
A comma is used to separate independent clauses within a sentence, while a semicolon is used to join two closely related independent clauses. For example, "I love eating apples; they are delicious." In this case, there are two independent clauses separated by a comma. However, if I say "I love eating apples; they are delicious," then there are two closely related independent clauses joined together with a semicolon.