separates run-on sentence w/out a coordinating conjunction
- I ate a lot of pie; I need to watch what I eat or awhile.
- It got cold in the house; I turned up the heater.
used with complex sentence structure
- I ate a lot of pie; therefore, I need go restrict my eating for awhile.
- I enjoying playing with my grandchildren; however, at my age, they wear me out!
this is an advanced writing skill you will learn in high school
used in a complicated list
- Kurt, boy in 3rd block; Raymond, boy in 2nd block; Ellie, girl in 1st block
- Hitchcock, South Dakota; Hillsboro, Kansas; Cheney, Kansas