How to Use a Semicolon
in place of a period: link two independent but related clauses, without a coordinating conjunction (eg. and, but) → Sara lost her glasses; she needs them to get around.
in place of a comma: when a long sentence has several clauses, a semicolon can help distinguish meaning, including if there is a coordinating conjuction → As Sara attempted to navigate public transport, with her eyes squinted and using her phone camera’s zoom to read the display, she tried to call her optometrist to make an appointment; but his number and office hours had only recently changed, so she had little luck.
in relation with adverbs and short phrases like however, indeed, thus, in that case, as a result, on the other hand, for example, that is → Her friend, Teddy, spotted Sara from across the hallway and tried to get her attention; she, however, didn’t recognize him and kept walking.
before introductory expressions (for example, that is, namely) → Teddy and Sara agreed that they would go to the museum before the new exhibition ended; that is, if she would be able to see again by that time.
to separate phrases or items in a list that contain commas within themselves or are particularly long → When Sara got home she wrote a to do list for the week: get in touch with her optometrist, Dr. Wallace; maybe ask her mother for some money, considering the unexpected cost of the glasses; and text Teddy about the museum.
Note: unlike with commas and periods, a semicolon is placed outside of quotation marks → For her 20th birthday, Sara got a shirt reading “2020 vision”; she said it was funny, but has not been seen wearing it since.
[Prompt Calender: April 16th, World Semicolon Day]
