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The semicolon, more that just a wink

December 13, 2009

Use of the semicolon has increased recently by combining it with a hyphen followed by a closing parenthesis to indicate a wink ;-) (tip your head to the left), but otherwise it is often avoided because writers aren’t confident how to use it.

The semicolon (;) is a delightful looking punctuation mark that provides a grammatical break that is greater than a comma, and less than a period (or full stop). So let’s look at four other ways we can use the semicolon.

Semicolons can used in the following ways:

1. Semicolons can be used to separate independent clauses.
2. Semicolons can be used to separate a clause from an explanatory clause.
3. Semicolons can be used to separate inline list items where the list items contain commas.
4. Semicolons can be used to separate a subordinate clause using a conjunctive adverb.

1. Semicolons can be used to separate independent clauses.

Independent clauses are statements that could stand on their own as separate sentences, but we want to combine them to emphasize their relationship (and there must be a relationship).

For example:

The Georgia plant supplies the raw material; the Chicago plant provides the finished product.

Each of these statements, or clauses, could be a separate sentences, but they are strongly related and we want to emphasize this relationship. We don’t however want to use a conjunction, a grammatical device that joins two phrases together.
Conjunctions that join independent clauses are called coordinated conjunctions because both clauses are of equal importance. There are 7 coordinated conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so (FANBOYS). If we use any of these we cannot use the semicolon, we only need a comma.

The Georgia plant supplies the raw material, and the Chicago plant provides the finished product.

2. Semicolons can be used to separate a clause from an explanatory clause.

This is similar to the first usage of a semicolon except in this situation the second clause is introduced by words like for example, namely, or that is.

For example:

Some pleasures cost next to nothing; for example, reading.

We always use a comma to separate the introductory words from the explanation.

3. Semicolons can be used to separate inline list items where the list items contain commas.

Inline lists are lists within a sentence. Sometimes the items in the list contains commas themselves so we need something to mark the list items. This is where the semicolon comes in.

For example:

We have planned software releases for January 15, 2010; March 20, 2010; and May 15, 2010.

4. Semicolons can be used to separate a subordinate clause using a conjunctive adverb.

This one sounds a bit technical, but it’s not as hard as it sounds. A subordinate clause is a clause or statement that can’t stand on its own as a sentence. Usually these subordinate clauses are joined to the main clause with a subordinate conjunction and all we need is a comma.

For example, here is a subordinate clause joined to the main clause by a subordinate conjunction:

The noise that kept bothering me, came from my son’s stereo.

The subordinate clause is that kept bothering me, and the subordinate conjunction is the word that.

There are lots of subordinate conjunctions including after, as, because, before, since, so, that, until, when, where, and while (there are lots more).

Sometimes however we use something called a conjunctive adverb to join a subordinate clause to the main clause. When we do, we are suppose to separate the main clause from the subordinate clause with a semicolon and separate the conjunctive adverb using a comma.

For example:

The president will be attending the lecture; accordingly, the vice president will be available for the luncheon.

There are lots of conjunctive adverbs. Here are the more common ones you might use: accordingly, afterward, again, also, as a result, at one moment… at the next, besides, consequently, further, hence, henceforth, however, instead, later, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, nonetheless, now…then, otherwise, similarly, so*, sometimes…sometimes, soon, still, then, therefore, and thus.

(* so may also be a coordinating conjunction when the meaning is during the time that. When the meaning of so is therefore, it is a conjunctive adverb.)