There are a few ways that a semi-colon can be used.
The first way to use a semi-colon is for the separation of two independent clauses, or sentences. Generally one or both clauses are brief, and the writer wishes to emphasize that the ideas expressed are related.
Example:
- She enjoys writing; she considers each blank page a unique challenge.
- “What a wonderful opportunity; you must be thrilled to participate in such an important project.”
When to Use:
- When you are revising an essay, review it to make sure that you have varied the length of your sentences. Once you have a good number of short declarative sentences and longer descriptive sentences, you can look for places where joining a shorter and longer with a semi-colon would add strength to the relationship of the two statements. Teachers look for a variety of sentence lengths when essays are graded; this is a useful strategy.
The second way is with independent clauses that are long and express ideas that are joined by logic or reason, a semi-colon can also be used.
Example:
- Water vapor is a greenhouse gas, and the cooling effect on the Earth’s climate creates changes; due to this dehydration may account for some of the slowdown in the rise of global temperatures seen over the past ten years.
When to Use:
- In persuasive or explanatory essays that require a lot of supporting evidence, the occurrence of run-on sentences has been known to happen. Review run-on sentences and see where one complete idea ends and the next begins. Insert a semi-colon there. Run-on problem solved.
A third use of a semi-colon is to separate word groupings that express complete thoughts which are separated by commas. In long sentences that use many commas, a comma that occurs at the end of a complete thought should be a semi-colon.
Example:
- I went to my favorite restaurant and ordered sushi, which I love; I spoke with the owner about a job opening, which I need; and tipped heavily, to ingratiate myself with the wait staff.
When to Use:
- In personal and reflective writing, when you have a good idea you should go ahead and ramble on with it. Then, go back and edit it. Add semi-colons to separate the different events within the mini-story that you are telling or the thoughts and ideas you are explaining. Editing allows for unconstrained free-writing.
