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From This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hey Mr. Maru,

Do you want to go on vacation next month? I want to go to Honolulu, Hawaii, New York City, New York or Des Moines, Iowa. What do you think? There are lots of cows, which are my favorite animal, in Iowa; They are so cool! There is also a lot of corn! Sound fun, right?

Or, we can go to Hawaii. We have to bring a lot of stuff. For example, sunscreen, surf boards, and hula skirts will be useful if we want to dance hula and surf.

Talk to you later,

Sparky

How do you use semicolons? There are a couple of semicolon rules we need to follow. It can be difficult to get it right. Many people don't use semicolons (or semi-colons) correctly. Let's talk about some examples and rules to follow.

Semicolon rule 1: A semicolon can be used to connect two sentences.

If you have two correct sentences, you can connect them. This helps the flow of the conversation. For example,

This is a beautiful painting; it was painted by Picasso. (In both sentences, we are talking about the painting)
There are lots of cows, which are my favorite animal, in Iowa; they are so cool! (We are talking about cows in both sentences.)

Be careful! We do not capitalize the second sentence.

Semicolon rule 2: A semicolon can be used for a long list of items especially if the items have commas.

A semicolon can be used to make a long list of items clearer. For example,

I want to go to Honolulu, Hawaii; New York City, New York or Des Moines, Iowa. (All of these place names have commas in them so using a semicolon will be clearer.)

To study English you need to practice vocabulary and phrases; listen to lots of examples of good English that is your level; practice speaking in free conversation with native speakers;... (Each item in the list is a little longer so it is useful to have a semicolon to help break up the list.)

Semicolon rule 3: Use a semicolon before introductory or conjunctive adverbs (such as however or finally)

There are many introductory words we can use to give examples - e.g., for example, for instance, to start with. We can use a semicolon before them to keep the sentences connected:

I like Italian food; for example, pizza, spaghetti, and calzones.
You need to bring camping supplies; for instance, a tent, a camping stove, and some strong gloves.

You can also use a semicolon to combine two sentences when a conjunctive adverb is used. For example,

He was a fast; however, the rabbit got away.
They looked all over for his wallet; finally, they gave up.

Be careful! Rule 3 is only used rarely and is not common.

In general, try not to overuse semicolons because some people are not use to seeing semicolons in casual writing. They come in handy for lists of long items or items with commas in them.

Do you think you understand everything? Let's take a little quiz.

Semicolon quiz

A) The meetings with all of the leaders happened on May 23, 1970__ February 3, 1974___ and March 5, 1975.

1) ;/,

2);/;

3);/_

B) I went to John's house for the party___ I had a lot of fun.

1) .

2) ,

3) ;

C) They walked through the forest___ then, they went to the river.

1) .

2) ,

3) ;

Answers

A) 3) ;/_ - You don't need a semicolon in front of 'and'.

B) 1) . - The two sentences don't need to be connected. They are about different things.

C) 3) ; - We can put a semicolon in front of a conjunctive adverb (then) to connect two sentences.

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