Semicolon usage which

Between independent clauses when a coordinating conjunction is omitted Most commonly, the semicolon is used between two independent clauses i. Example The upperclassmen are permitted off-campus lunch; the underclassmen must remain on campus. Example The upperclassmen are permitted off-campus lunch, but the underclassmen must remain on campus.

Examples Heavy snow continues to fall at the airport; consequently, all flights have been grounded. This mistake is known as a comma splice. Incorrect: I like cows, however, I hate the way they smell. Correct: I like cows; however, I hate the way they smell. The conjunctive adverb however signals a connection between two independent clauses, and commas should not be used to connect independent clauses if there is no coordinating conjunction.

Incorrect: I like cows: they give us milk, which tastes good, they give us beef, which also tastes good, and they give us leather, which is used for shoes and coats. Correct: I like cows: they give us milk, which tastes good; they give us beef, which also tastes good; and they give us leather, which is used for shoes and coats. Incorrect: Cows, though their bovine majesty has been on the wane in recent millennia, are still one of the great species of this planet, domesticated, yet proud, they ruminate silently as we humans pass tumultuously by.

I saw a magnificent albatross; it was eating a mouse. You need a comma plus something to avoid a comma splice. That something can either be the right conjunction or the period that turns a comma into a semicolon. If semicolons can link independent clauses that would otherwise have a period or a conjunction between them, that means they can demonstrate contrast, too. To summarize, a semicolon links up two related ideas by narrowing the gap between the ideas of two separate sentences or by replacing a conjunction between two related ideas.

You can use semicolons to divide the items of a list if the items are long or contain internal punctuation. In these cases, the semicolon helps readers keep track of the divisions between the items.

My plan included taking him to a nice—though not necessarily expensive—dinner; going to the park to look at the stars, which, by the way, are amazing this time of year; and serenading him with my accordion.

Yup, that was one now. When you have a conjunctive adverb linking two independent clauses, you should use a semicolon. Some common conjunctive adverbs include moreover, nevertheless, however, otherwise, therefore, then, finally, likewise, and consequently. However, when using a semicolon, the part after the punctuation mark also needs to be able to function as a standalone sentence. A semicolon is used to bring two related sentences together to accentuate their connectedness.

In the example below, you can see that a full stop also called a period is separating the two sentences:. With the full stop above, the example reads like two unrelated ideas. However, in the following example, the semicolon creates a relationship between the two ideas:. Two independent clauses as in the example above should only be joined with a semicolon to create a complex sentence.

Using a comma instead is a grammatical error referred to as a comma splice. This is an example of a comma splice:. The second comma should be replaced with a semicolon because it is intended to link a second closely related independent clause.