Semicolons
What are Semicolons?
Semicolons can be used anywhere periods are, but for specific reasons.
How Can They Be Used?
To closely link sentences together
Semicolons clearly show that one sentence leads to the next. The sentence on either side of the semicolon must be a full sentence.
My pet bear is very fashionable
she only wears high heels.
It is hard to dance in high heels
bears are very top-heavy.
Heavy traffic kept us from driving as far as we wanted
we decided to ride my pet bear the rest of the way home.
As a "super comma"
This is used to separate items in a list if commas have already been used to describe each item on the list.
At the store, I purchased several items for my pet bear: honey, which I always buy
berries, which I get when they're in season
and lipliner, which happened to be on sale.
The people at my party were Thomas, who is my best friend
Elise, my girlfriend
Becca, Elise’s friend
and Ani, my pet bear's coworker.
Sparingly
Since semicolons fulfil a very specific role, they should be used sparingly, kind of like exclamation points.
For example, I end every phrase with an exclamation point! It looks kind of silly! And you probably won't take me seriously! it may even sound like I'm yelling at you!
Exclamation points have a specific purpose; semicolons are the same (see what I did there?) so use both only as needed.
How NOT to use semicolons
You should have a full sentence on either side of the semicolon. This means it has a subject and verb, and could stand on it's own and still make sense.
The weather was lovely today
spent all day outside with my pet bear.
Missing: a subject
My pet bear was angry
while driving in rush hour traffic.
Missing: a subject
My pet bear watches Youtube to learn to perfect her eyeliner
but she's already fantastic at applying makeup.
I want her to give me a makeover
and she says she will soon.
With Coordinating Conjunctions, also called FANBOYS (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So), we simply use a comma to separate the two sentences.
My pet bear watches Youtube to learn to perfect her eyeliner, but she's already fantastic at applying makeup.
I want her to give me a makeover, and she says she will soon.
Other semicolon resources
This comic is a hilarious lesson featuring hairy knuckles.
Sidenote, Project Semicolon is an organization dedicated to using the semicolon as inspiration for those who are thinking of unaliving themselves. Why? The semicolon is used when a sentence could have ended, but didn't. Their motto: "your story isn't over."