Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Java

Sarah DuBois
Sarah DuBois
1,698 Points
Posted by Sarah DuBois
Sarah DuBois
1,698 Points

Line 21

^
TreeStory.java:21: error: not a statement
console.printf("%s is a %s %s. ", name, adjective, noun);
^
TreeStory.java:21: error: ';' expected
console.printf("%s is a %s %s. ", name, adjective, noun);
^

Got this error and for the life of me cant figure it out.

Jeremy Hill
Jeremy Hill
29,567 Points

look at the surrounding code; if you forgot to add curly braces or a semi colon somewhere it will act like that.

5 Answers

Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,413 Points
Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,413 Points

A "semi-colon expected" error can be a bit tricky to find because the real error always happens on the lines before where it happens. It basically means, "Weren't you supposed to put a semi-colon at the end of the line a while back?"

Sarah DuBois
Sarah DuBois
1,698 Points
Sarah DuBois
Sarah DuBois
1,698 Points

I dont know what is missing, I checked both of those.

import java.io.Console;

public class TreeStory {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Console console = System.console();
        /* Some terms:
        noun- Person, place or thing
        verb- An action
        adjection-A description used to modify or describe a noun
        Enter your amazing code here!
        */
    // __Name__ is a __adjective__ __noun__.  They are always __adverb__ __verb__.
   String name = console.readLine("Enter a name: "); 
   String adjective = console.readLine("Enter an adjective: "); 
   String noun = console.readLine("Enter a noun: "); 
   String adverb = console.readLine("Enter an adverb: ");
   String verb = console.readLine("Enter a verb ending with -ing: "); 

    console.prinf("Your TreeStory:\n--------------\n") ;
    console.printf("%s is a %s %s. ", name, adjective, noun);
    console.printf("They are always %s %s.\n", adverb, verb);
    }
}
Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,413 Points
Seth Kroger
Seth Kroger
56,413 Points

The line above it, you misspelled printf which should have given you a Symbol Not Found error. Fix that and it should be ok.

console.printf("Your TreeStory:\n--------------\n") ;