Question

which revision correctly combines these two sentences?
there was a lot of traffic today. it took an hour to get home.
○ there was a lot of traffic today, it took an hour to get home.
○ there was a lot of traffic today and it took an hour to get home.
○ there was a lot of traffic today; it took an hour to get home.
○ there was a lot of traffic today it took an hour to get home.

Explanation:

When combining two independent clauses (complete sentences) that are closely related, a semicolon is the correct punctuation to use without a coordinating conjunction. A comma alone would create a comma splice, and using "and" without appropriate punctuation is also incorrect. A period would keep them as separate sentences, but the question asks to combine them.

Answer:

There was a lot of traffic today; it took an hour to get home.