Semicolon? Really Only Semi-Confusing

What is semicolon?

A semicolon is a little punctuation mark that makes a big difference in your professional writing. In the words of William James, It is ideally suited to keeping the flow of the mind from either stopping altogether as if it had been dammed as it does with a full stop or else turning into an uncontained incomprehensible torrent. 

Why use a semicolon?

Semicolon links or connects two complete sentences having the same thoughts and ideas. It does not connect two parts of sentences or dependent clauses. Let me show you some examples.  

Sentence One

It is raining.

This is a complete sentence.

Sentence Two

You should take an umbrella.

This is another complete sentence.

These are correct complete sentences and there is no wrong in writing like this but if you want to write in a bit more powerful and in an advanced way you should use a semicolon.

It is raining; you should take an umbrella. 

Now you can see the second sentence is linked to the first sentence. They flow from each other and we want to show that there is a connection between ideas. You should take an umbrella why because it's raining.

Take another example.

I'm feeling unwell; I can't go to the meeting.

The important point is that both parts of the sentence, before and after the semicolon, are talking about a related topic. 

So we use a semicolon to show that two ideas or two sentences are very closely related or talking about the same topic. 

How to use a semicolon?

If you'd like to know how to use the tricky semicolon the right way, just follow these easy rules.

Rule # 1:

Connecting Two Complete Sentences

Write one complete sentence.

Ex: She ran quickly down the street.

Write another closely related sentence.

Ex:  The yapping dog was right on her heels. 

Connect the sentences with a semicolon.

She ran quickly down the street; the yapping dog was right on her heels. 

Rule # 2:

Linking Items in a List

Semicolons can be used in lists when the items on the lists contain commas. Usually, when we make a list, we use commas to separate the items on the list. For example, "We need milk, eggs, sugar, and flour." We put a comma after each item, after milk, after eggs, and so on.  But if the items on your list are not just words, but phrases which include commas, we use semicolons to separate the items on the list. Let's take a look.

"We traveled to four cities: Santa Fe, which is in New Mexico; Denver, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; and finally, Los Angeles in California."

 In this case, we use semicolons to separate the items on the list because the items on the list already include commas. If we used commas to separate the items, it would be very confusing and difficult to read. Let's look at one more example.  

"Only three people showed up: Tom, the head of accounting; Maria Flores, who works in the sales department; and Ellie, who's doing an internship here." 

Rule # 3:

Using It With Transitional Words

Use a semicolon between complete statements separated by transitional words or phrases such as however, in fact, in other words, therefore, or nevertheless. Use a comma after the transitional word or phrase.

Take a look at this:

Asim graduated with honors; therefore, he was eligible for several scholarships.

When we join the sentences with transitional words we put a semicolon before the transitional word and a comma after. 

Bright Tips💡

1. A period divides ideas and sentences and semicolon links or connects the ideas and thoughts and sentences.
2. When we want to join two sentences in English, we use a connecting word, like"and" or "but" or "therefore," but, when you join two sentences using a semicolon, you don't need to use a connecting word. However, if you use a connecting word to join two sentences, you sometimes need to use a semicolon and sometimes a comma. It depends on what the connecting word is. To join two sentences using "and," "or," "but," "yet," or "while," "so," you should use a comma.  To join two sentences using "however," "therefore," "nevertheless," or "meanwhile," you should use a semicolon.
3. Do you use a capital letter after a semicolon? The general answer is no. A semicolon should be followed by a capital letter only if the word is a proper noun or an acronym.

When NOT to use

We do not use it to connect to incomplete sentences because as I mentioned in the beginning if you're going to use a semicolon both sides have to be complete sentences. So, for example in this sentence like staying up a plate, even though I need to get up early.

"I like staying up late" if we stopped it there that could be a full sentence but what about this part "even though I need to get up early. " Now "even though I need to get up early" is not a complete sentence so in this case, we just use the comma we do not use the semicolon. 

You cannot use the semicolon between complete sentences that include coordinating conjunctions which are sometimes abbreviated as fanboys. 

Don't use the semicolon if you're introducing a list of something. For example, Please bring the essentials: your passport, ticket, and luggage.  

Last word

Even though semicolons are very important to use it and it will give your writing an effective and meaningful look but at the same time it's like a diamond you don't want to see it too much it'll sparkle. If you have five paragraphs of the article you could maybe use it once in each paragraph but not more than once in each paragraph because then it becomes a bit heavy.