Semicolon Usage

View this presentation to learn more about how to use semicolons, an awesome piece of punctuation.

Let’s start by looking at why we might need a semicolon.

First, we will look at a simple sentence: – Mary doesn’t like to miss anything.

Independent Clause

Mary doesn’t like to miss anything is a complete sentence – or you can use the fancy term and call it an independent clause. It has a subject (Mary) and a predicate (like).

What happens when you want to add more?

What if we want to add more details? – Mary doesn’t like to miss anything.

She stays up very late.

Can we combine these into one sentence? Now we have two independent

clauses about the same topic: – Mary doesn’t like to miss anything.

She stays up very late. Let’s learn a new way to combine

sentences:– Mary doesn’t like to miss anything;

she stays up very late.

Ways to use Semicolons: There are three main ways to use

semicolons: – To join two independent clauses

without any connecting terms– To join two independent clauses with

a conjunctive adverb and a comma– To separate items in a complicated

list that already has commas.

To join two independent clauses without any connecting terms:

I want to go to the store; mom wants to go to the movies.

Ralph hates school; Fred thinks it is a great place to spend the day.

The cat went to climb the tree; the dog chased it away.

To join two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb and a comma

I like to swim; however, I like to bike even more.

The sky looks grey; as a result, it might rain.

Sarah is studying; meanwhile, Jenny is at ball practice.

To separate items in a complicated

list that already has commas.

We need to take a tent, a sleeping bag, and a compass; a cook stove, a cooler, and some plates; and some boots, a coat, and rain gear when we go camping.

For more information about how to use semicolons, please read the notes in the semicolon folder.