Semicolons ( ; )
Contarary to what many middle school teachers may say about semicolons, they’re actually not particularly difficult; if you understand what you’re doing, they start to come pretty naturally. Still, since a lot of people seem to be a little shaky when it comes to using semicolons, I thought I’d help simplify things.
1) A semicolon goes in between two independent clauses, which is a fancy-dancy way of saying that the phrase before and the phrase after the semicolon are both capable of being a stand-alone sentence.
2) A semicolon shows that two ideas are connected, and are part of the same thought.
3) If you’re ever unsure whether a semicolon would fit wherever you’re trying to put it, ask yourself the question: “Would this still be grammatically correct if I put a period there?” If not, don’t use a semicolon.
Some examples:
Correct (both phrases in each example are complete sentences):
- It rained yesterday; there’s puddles all over the street.
- The room’s a mess; Thomas must be home for the holidays.
- I learned the subject material years ago; I’m pretty comfortable with it now.
- Juliette stayed up; Margaret went to bed.
Incorrect (at least one of the phrases in each example is an incomplete sentence):
- If he went to the graveyard; there were ghosts.
- When the girl arrives; she should be wearing combat boots.
- The potions have been delivered; assuming the ghosts didn’t make a mess of things.
- if the ghouls escape; until the full moon begins to rise.
That’s literally it. This is the horror middle school Language Arts teachers warned you about.