For all the fuss, though, itâs actually not that difficult to master. Two simple scenarios can sum up the vast majority of acceptable uses.
1. Youâre dealing with two sentences that canât keep their hands off each other. Turning them into one long sentence doesnât seem quite right, but you donât want to put a period between them, either. Very often, it replaces words like but and and.
Examples:
Ethel and Floyd never talk; words are unnecessary.Bertha eventually left her McDonaldâs fry cook boyfriend for a cashier at Taco Bell; the steak taquitos were just too tempting.
2. Your commas are working overtime. The most common example of this situation is when youâre writing a list and one or more items in the list have their own commas.
Examples:
When Slash wants to impress the ladies, he puts on a mix tape with Crosby, Stills & Nash; Harry Connick, Jr.; Air Supply; and Loverboy.As a traveling magician, The Magnificent Zoltok found it easy to simultaneously woo girlfriends in Tupelo, Mississippi; Salem, Massachusetts; and Phoenix, Arizona.
Of course, you can also use a semicolon when youâre dividing up a two-chunk sentence thatâs already using commas in one of the chunks.
Examples:
Boris the Big enjoyed a satisfying meal of fresh greens, beef burgundy, and buttered bread; but when the dessert tray came out, he ordered a slice of each confection.Katya found Alexander pompous, rude, and consistently disappointing; however, she was quite fond of his v-neck sweaters and family connections.
I guess we still do not know how to use a semicolon :(
Actually, I think the second half of scenario one are correct. They both are used to separate independent clauses.
Of course, as Anita said, the second half of scenario 2 is incorrect...
I do not support the author's use of semicolons regarding breaking up a sentence. I use the Chicago Manual of Style as a reference book, and that publication gives an answer to that question below:
Semicolons
Q. My question is about the proper use of semicolons. My editor wants me to use the following construct when I use âthat isâ or âfor exampleâ: âYou can tailor much of the desktop environment; for example, the background window.â
A. CMOS does not support such use of the semicolon; semicolonsâwhen not separating items in a syntactically complex seriesâshould separate independent clauses:
Deep-dish pizza has anchored me to the Midwest; that is, Iâm unwilling to give it up and too heavy to leave.
When an expression like âthat isâ is used to introduce a dependent clause, use a comma, a dash, or parentheses:
We have only one thing in common, namely, a knowledge of English.
Snow is great until you have to do something about it (e.g., rescue injured skiers).
Hair loss was not much of a problem outdoors in 1910âin other words, back when you were expected to wear a hat.
The semicolon is a simple piece of punctuation, much easier to work with than the comma because it follows fairly clear rules. If you learn the two simple rules explained here, you'll rarely go wrong. It has two main uses, which are both easy to identify. You use it to connect
two independent clauses together into one sentence, and you use it as a super-comma. You can use it in a few other unusual situations, but they come up rarely, and there are other ways to handle those situations. Learn them if you want to be perfect, but if you learn to recognize the two primary uses, you will do fine as semicolon user
.
You know, if they just called it a "Supercomma" then people would probably understand how to use it better.
Maani, this is the precise trouble with pinning down the rules for English grammar. If there are rules, there will most likely be 9 or 10 variations of circumstance plus a couple of exceptions to the rule. Then one must take into account the various schools of thought re. grammar, fashion and then if you live in a post colonial country, as I do, you'll need to consider British style vrs. American style! I say, 'Bring on the Academie Anglaise'.
If I have a semi-colon, should I have a regular semi-colonoscopy?
nice post highlighting our poor & misunderstood semicolon! apart from it looking posh & sophisticated, i use it because I mostly have too much to say[;] it was always a good fallback.
Semicolons are also frequently used in lyrics, to indicate the end of a line of verse that falls in the middle of a line of music. ALWAYS put a single space after a semicolon.
Thank you for shedding light on what must be arcane superknowledge to those who do not know why it is not called softwear or underware.
Nicely put... and I would add: PLEASE do not overuse, too many semi's on a page and it becomes as distracting as an !
Great explanation. I must admit that I mostly use semicolons when I want to chop a long sentence up.
Caryn - That's how I first learned it, too. It's a really good rule of thumb and it covers most situations (other than breaking up a long list of items that have their own commas).
Maani - You definitely want to include a space after your semicolons. In general, you wouldn't use them to separate brands unless one of the brands had a comma within the name. (because it would be confusing to separate the items if you weren't familiar enough with the names to know which ones had their own internal commas).
Nice one. You are so right about the few who can throw a sentence with meaning together.
But I have given up trying to educate the mugs.
Happy New year from The Baldchemist
As a part-time freelance writer, I appreciate any comment, opinion or critique of anything regarding the written English language. I respectfully disagree with "rule" number two regarding commas working overtime.
When I read a sentence with a comma or commas, my mind pauses, just for a moment. When I read a sentence with a semi-colon, my mind pauses as if a sentence were ending, but the ending is not complete, as it would be if a period was used. A semi-colon puts me in the netherworld of taking a break while reading a sentence. A comma is simply a speed bump and a period is a stop sign.
Ah, you may think I'm nuts, but that's just the way my mind works.
Food for thought......Thanks.
Well, I really liked the,simple yet elegant, style of presentation but there is one thing I'd like to discuss. The examples were pretty good but as for me, not a native of English, it was quite a bit difficult job to grasp the whole idea. I mean the examples did there job but there was no certain rule(or rules) or rules to follow like you can use semi-colon when listing brands e.g., KFC; Mc Donalds; Pizza Hut. And mountains like Mount-Everest; K-2, etc. Another thing which is missing, for me, as told previously, is about the space! I don't know whether to leave space after semi-colon or not? I hope you get what I mean otherwise the presentation and layout was pretty neat! Keep it Up!
Another use of semicolon ;)
Well said! I love this and know people who could use it. I usually explain it as a semicolon is for places where the break is too weak for a period and too strong for a colon, and then give a few examples.
Vuntz I had a kendy store
Bizniss was so bad
I asked mine vife what to do
and dis is vat she said:
Take yourself some Kerosene
pour it on de floor
Take a match, give a scratch
No more kendy store! HEY!